Sisterly Conflicts
by Reven Firebane
Summary: The start of a story involving the Kurosaki twins, the arrancar, the shinigami, and really everything in between! It takes place while Ichigo is training with the vizards, just to clarify! I hope you all enjoy! Reviews are very welcome, if not required!
1. From Humble Beginnings

Yuzu Kurosaki had had a rough day at school. Karin being much more popular from her soccer playing, Yuzu was often left out from her sister's antics. She really wanted to be involved with Karin, as they were twin sisters, but they were completely opposite! "How did that even happen?" Yuzu often found herself asking. She walked home alone that day.

"Hello little girl..." A chipper voice said from behind her. "Coming home from a hard day of work... uhh... school?" He asked, completely foreign to the customs of 11 year old girls.

"I gotta go study..." Yuzu said. She had been warned about stranger danger and this guy was shady. She took a look at his face, he was smiling from ear to ear and his eyes were shut. "I'll just go..."

"You can study later..." The man said. This scared Yuzu to no extent. She broke off running, trying to get away from whatever threat she might be facing. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but tired quickly. 'I made it!' She thought to herself as she came to a halt.

"You aren't the fit type are you?" The mocking voice said to her from right behind her. She jumped up to see the man once again.

"Go away!!!" Yuzu screamed as she started to cry. She broke out in a run again as fast as possible. The man was having no trouble following her, as he was thin, tall, clearly the runner type.

Yuzu made it only a short while longer before she ran into a brick wall. She stopped and turned behind her to see him standing there, not even fazed by their chase. Yuzu was sobbing, "Why!? Why do you want me?!" Yuzu yelled at him, cursing herself for being an 11 year old girl. She knew this wouldn't end well and started to cry even more, scared to death of what he might do. Sex? Murder? Any of the other stuff Yuzu didn't like? It could be any of these things!

The man grew closer to her, putting his hand in his coat and taking out a strange looking badge. Yuzu knew only one self defense move, and decided that this was the time to use it. Her foot went out and connected with the man's crotch. He wasn't even the least bit affected, he just tapped her with the badge and her world was turned completely around.

Yuzu hit the ground, short of breathe and still in tears, and she looked up to see the man standing placidly over her. Over her... Yuzu looked to see her body and started to freak out. She was connected by some sort of chain contraption and her body was lying completely still on the ground. "You wanna try and run?" The man asked her, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "You probably won't make it but..." He hit himself with the badge and out stepped a new man.

"You never know..." He shot two fireballs, burning both his body and Yuzu's to ash. "And it's not like you have any where else to go right?" He said with a cheerful tone just as he had before and pulled out a sword. Yuzu cried even harder as he cut the chain connecting her to the ash. Breathing became easier, but she was still extremely worried. The man hadn't put his sword away and her body was completely gone. Where could she go? She did what instinct told her to do... run...

She ran as fast as she possibly could, screaming everyone's name she could think of. Karin, Ichigo, Ururu, Jinta, even Don Kanonji. None of them were in ear shot, and she began to grow tired.

Sure running was much easier in this form, but she was out of breath in no time and once again, she was faced by the strange man. "W... why?" Yuzu asked, crying her little eyes out.

"Ohh relax, your just a pawn, it's nothing to be worried about." He said. "I'm not going to kill you... not like I did back there anyways..."

"I'm dead?" She asked him, looking with disbelief at her hands.

"That's right... you're the thick one..." The shady man appeared by her side, "Yes, but your new life is just beginning..." And with that, he hit her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. "That's ok... we'll fix your thick headedness..."

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Karin had just scored another goal, she was on fire today! She was a dribbling, dodging, scoring fool! No sooner had the game started did they actually call mercy on the other team. "Hell ya!" Karin said. She was glad she had taken lessons from Toshiro, even if he was just a grade schooler (HA!).

"Impressive." A cool voice said from behind her. She turned to see a familiar, albeit oddly dressed man sitting on the bleachers. "Mind if we talk really quick?" The man asked her.

"Sure Mr. Urahara, what's up?" Karin said as she went over and sat next to him.

"Just something... your sister is involved..." Urahara said, bringing out the most serious parts of his personality.

"Is something wrong?" Karin asked, now growing worried about her sister. What could have possibly happened?

"Follow me..." Urahara said. He walked only a short while to the local park. "This is the last place she was..." He stated forebodingly.

"She's.... she's..." Karin couldn't even say the next word. She couldn't lose her twin sister! Sure they were different, but they were best friends!!! "She can't be!" Karin screamed, tears gathering in her eyes for the first time since she met that parakeet.

"She's not all the way gone... her soul is still fine..." Urahara said. He touched the ground. "It was about 15 minutes ago..."

Karin broke into tears. Yuzu had been killed, and Karin couldn't even find her. She hadn't been there for her sister when she needed her most, and Karin wouldn't stand for it. "We'll get her back!" Karin yelled through her tears, "We have to!!!"

"Glad to see we're on the same page..." Urahara said, "Please, come to my shop. You have a lot to learn before she comes back..."

Karin hated the cryptic way he talked. It was disgusting, and way to hard to understand. Did he have no sympathy for her, or for Yuzu? Karin followed nonetheless. Sure she didn't like the way he talked, but she sure as hell was gonna get her sister back, no matter what it meant.

*********************************************************************

Yuzu woke up in a dark desert being carried. "Wh... what happened?" She asked and looked up to see the man from before. Her breathing grew panicked once more but he just looked down at her and smiled.

"Don't worry." His tone was much calmer than before, soothing, but still having biting sarcasm to it. "We are saving you, and this will help to make you much stronger..." He said, setting the girl down. "You can run if you really want to... but you don't know how to get back, and this place is very dangerous for a little girl like you..."

Having pre-arranged this, a giant hollow jumped up from the ground and let out a mighty roar. Yuzu started to cry, she had only seen one of these creatures before, and she had been surrounded by her friends. Now, she felt abandoned. She felt to her knees as the creature charged at her, getting ready for the final blow to her body.

Her murderer simply patted her on the head. She looked up to see a long blade stretch out and impale in monster that had been headed straight for her. It turned to dust and vanished. "You see..." the mysterious man said, "It's not safe! Yet..."

Yuzu nodded. "Come; let's go meet your new family..." They walked, they walked forever, and Yuzu thanked the heavens that he didn't have any more taunts or comments for her, she didn't like the way he made fun of her. However, silence was equally as taunting, making Yuzu extremely uncomfortable. She assumed that he had planned this as well.

She couldn't take it any more, she finally spoke up. "So..." She said, he barely turned his head, completely expecting her to speak. She was timid, but she had no choice but to say something. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" He asked, taunting her as he would to a small child. She went red, much to his silent amusement.

"Yuzu..." She said through her obvious blush.

"Ya I knew that..." He said condescendingly, "How come you don't know mine? Seems kinda rude..." He chided. She hated him already, but she had damn good reason. He had murdered her, taken her here, and now he was taunting her about it.

"But... but..." Yuzu saw the look on his face and knew she wasn't going to get an answer. "Alright... where are we going?"

"To a sunny desert paradise, where we will break you, beat you, and then put you back together as a new person." He said with a laugh. Even through that laugh, Yuzu could tell he was completely serious. "But don't worry; you will make new friends... and enemies..."

They walked forever; Yuzu saw no end in sight. She grew tired and eventually she had to give up. She fell to her knees. Her host didn't even stop walking as she did this and she started to cry, knowing that she may not wake up before one of those monsters ate her. She put her thumb in her mouth, a rare comfort she only indulged in when she was really sad or scared. She was both of those things as she drifted off to sleep.

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"So I have to become a soul reaper?" Karin asked blatantly as Urahara concluded his explanation. "How am I gonna do that?"

"Simple!" Urahara said, regaining someone of his goofiness. "Me, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta and are gonna help you along, so then you can find your little sister and be a happy family again!"

"Why can't Ichigo do it? Isn't he a lot stronger than me?" Karin asked. "Why do I have to do this?"

"Ichigo is MIA..." Urahara said calmly, "Besides, don't you wanna learn how to cast spells and stuff?"

"I guess..." Karin said. She was nervous about this, but Toshiro didn't mind it, and being able to sword fight and use ice spells like him would be pretty cool. "How?"

"If you would just follow me..." Urahara said, heading down through a trap door. Karin followed placidly, not expecting to see a massive underground facility with a fake sky and rocks to match. She got off the ladder, completely speechless. "I know right!? I surprise even myself sometimes..." Urahara added.

"How does no one know this is here?" Karin finally managed to ask. "This must be big enough to be under MY house!"

"It is!" Urahara said, taking her shock as a compliment. "We have a lot of free time..."

"Clearly..." Karin remarked, regaining some of her former spunk. "So why are we here? Working out or something?" She asked as she scanned the playing field. Urahara didn't miss a beat, rather hitting her with the back of his cane.

She flew out of her body, skidding to a halt. "What the hell you jerk?!" She asked, but her breath became short and she found herself gasping for air.

"There we go; it's much harder to breathe in that form." Urahara said as he put his cane back down, "Now it gives me a chance to talk without you constantly interrupting." Karin could not object to the man, as she was barely able to hold onto her breath.

"You are currently a Plus soul, one still attached to her body. For you to become a shinigami, you must detach from the body, gain complete control over this form, and eventual learn the way of the shinigami." He summed up the complex plus to shinigami process for the girl. "Do you agree?" Karin simply nodded in consent. She didn't really care, but she wanted air... bad...

"Good..." Urahara severed the chain. "We will start with something you know well..." He vanished, reappearing moments later on top of a nearby rock. Karin was to busy with the loose chain hanging from her chest to see a soccer ball flying at her. She didn't get out of the way and was knocked flat.

"What the hell?" Karin asked as she recovered. She picked up the ball, kicking it a few times. "Soccer?"

"See?" Urahara asked, "You are already breathing better! Perhaps your brother shouldn't have been the one to send to the Soul Society..." Urahara joked. Karin was too busy paying attention to the various soccer balls Ururu and Jinta were kicking at her. She kicked a few of them back, assuming it to be somewhat of a game. Ururu kicked one extremely hard, harder than any human could, straight at Karin's head. Karin jumped up and kicked it back, landing in awe.

"How did I jump so high?!" Karin asked Urahara excitedly. "I've never jumped that high ever! I jumped even higher than my head!" She felt invincible.

"Good!" Urahara said, sarcastically clapping as he got back to the ground level of the training ground. "Now you're ready for the next test..." he said ominously as he pointed to a giant hole in the ground.

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Yuzu woke up being dragged through the sand this time. It wasn't as pleasant as her previous wake up call, but at least she was alive right? "And you thought I would leave you in the desert... you make me laugh!" A voice chuckled. Yuzu brushed the comment off. She looked up and saw a gigantic white door. She couldn't help but marvel at the size and majesty of it.

"Ahh Gin..." She heard from the side. She looked and saw a black man with a strange visor on. "You got the girl..."

"Of course!" Gin teased as he picked her up and got her too her feet. "Scratch free! Just as Aizen wanted!" He smiled even bigger; Yuzu didn't even think that was possible! The black man wasn't amused. But rather maintained his distance expression. That was, until Gin patted him on the back. "You need to loosen up Tosen! Have a little fun!!!" Gin taunted. Tosen wasn't pleased.

"Move your arm... or I will remove it..." He said, grabbing his blade. Yuzu didn't like him much more but hey, nowadays, she didn't much. Gin backed off. "Are you Yuzu Kurosaki?"

"Uhh..." Yuzu said, a bit taken back. "Y... yes..." She stuttered, terrified of the situation. He caught her off guard, by bowing politely.

"Please come with me..." He said calmly. He turned around and started walking. "Please don't doddle, Lord Aizen would not be pleased if you are late..." Yuzu felt much safer around him than this "Gin" fellow, so she followed hastily. Don't get it wrong though, she was extremely frightened and nervous. She was chewing her nails, wringing her dress; she even caught herself sucking her thumb while they walked. She corrected her behavior, imitating her guide in his posture and mannerisms. However, she couldn't stop the butterflies in her stomach from going nuts.

Yuzu still couldn't help but admiring the castle. It was simplistic, but graceful at the same time. Even with all those monsters in the desert, this place was completely serene. It was also large, and the walking thing was getting on her nerves. She began to lag behind. "Are you alright?" Tosen asked her. Unlike the last guide, he had stopped. Not only that, but he offered her a hand. She placed her hand gently in his and he helped her get to her feet.

"Are you ready to continue? Or would you like to rest a little bit?" Tosen asked her, which made Yuzu feel much better about the situation.

"Can we break a little bit?" Yuzu asked. Tosen complied. He took her to a nearby bench and sat down with her. "Thank you..." Yuzu said sincerely. She might as well go for the questions she wanted to ask the other guy. "So... where are we?"

"Los Noches, the arrancar headquarters of Heuco Mundo." Tosen said calmly and logically. Yuzu didn't know what any of that meant, but whatever, it sounded like a solid answer.

"Ok... and who are you, and that other guy." Yuzu asked him, swinging her legs to ease her stress. Tosen admired her innocence.

"I am Kaname Tosen. The man who brought you here is Gin Ichimaru." Tosen said calmly. He looked down to observe her expression, which at the time was confusion. "The man you are about to meet is Lord Sosuke Aizen. He will teach you all you need to know..."

Yuzu simply nodded before getting to her feet. "Let's go..." She said, not wanting to stall fate any longer. Tosen obliged silently, and assumed his leader roll. Yuzu had many more questions, but she was still scared, even if Tosen was much more pleasant than Gin. He had a sword, and the aura around him oozed power. The two walked silently.

It was another long walk, but they finally came to a small conference room. Kaname motioned for her to enter, and she did as she was told. She saw a figure sitting in a seat at the end of the table. "Please, take a seat..." A soothing voice told her, echoing off the walls. Yuzu did as instructed. Gin and Tosen had a strong presence, but this man... this was a brand new feeling to her. "We have much to discuss..." The man said, before taking a sip of his tea. Yuzu whimpered as he spoke, his words were heavy, almost pounding her body. She knew things would never be the same again.


	2. The Learning Process

Karin struggled madly as Jinta and Ururu dragged her over to the pit. It was huge! "What the Hell are you doing?!" She asked in a panic. "I need to save Yuzu!" Karin screamed as the pushed her ever closer to the edge.

"You will have only 72 hours to get out of this pit..." Urahara said heartlessly, "It's part of the trials of the Shinigami."

"But I can't climb like this!" Karin yelled at him, referring to the binding he had put her in. "Aren't you supposed to teach me something to help me out?" Urahara stared blankly before his face came to light.

"Ohh ya!!!" He said, "I'm supposed to teach you how to make Reiatsu platforms! How silly of me!!!" Urahara laughed, "So that's why Ichigo had such a hard time! I was wondering about that cause he's a bright kid you know..." He started to ramble on and on about Ichigo, but Karin finally had to cut him off.

"Then just teach me already!!!" Karin blurted out. He was caught off guard by the yelp and stumbled backwards.

"Fine..." Urahara walked over to her and pulled her away from the pit. He then began climbing comically on invisible steps. "You need to learn how to do this!"

"How?" Karin asked. Putting her foot down but was unable to make contact with anything invisible.

"I guess that's for you to figure out..." Urahara said mysteriously before signaling with his hand. Before Karin knew it, Ururu and Jinta were dragged her along, back to the pit once more. She pleaded with them, but they tossed her in mercilessly.

"Jerks!" She yelled as she flew threw the air. She hit the ground, hard. She was surprised when she wasn't dead; the pit must have been a good 200 feet deep. A large man sat in the corner of the shaft, completely silent. "Who are you?"

"I am Tessai Tsukabishi, I help around the shop..." He said, "Kisuke demonstrated what you must do, and that you have only a 72 hour time frame."

"I know... just need to find out how to walk on air..." Karin said slightly deterred. A pain appeared on the end of her chain link that was nearly unbearable for the small girl. Her screams were loud enough that Kisuke got worried that people outside may have heard her, and come to investigate. No one did as she was in soul form, but it was ear splitting none the less. "What the hell?" She asked as she saw mouths disappear on the chain.

"Encroachment. Make sure you get out before the last one is eaten, or you will fade away from ever. Then we'd have to kill you..." Urahara shouted down into the pit. "I showed you what you needed to do, so do it..."

Karin went for it, how else was she gonna survive this thing?

She tried for hours to replicate Urahara's process, but he had only demonstrated what she needed to do, not taught her how to do it. She fought to emulate him, but it was fruitless, considering that she had no proper training or any ideas on how to begin.

"Damn it!" Karin yelled as found making platforms impossible. This time around however, Ururu and Jinta sympathized with their fellow Karakura Superhero and were providing tips.

"Try to imagine pulling all the energy from your body into your feet." Ururu said, "You got it?"

"I think so..." Karin said, feeling her feet surrounded by a strange feeling. It was thick, heavy almost.

"Good, now put one foot up, and force all of that energy out, and downwards." Ururu explained. Karin did as she was told and her foot actually made contact with something. "Do the same with the other one!" Ururu yelled down. Karin did, but got her other foot onto an invisible platform.

"I did it!" she yelled emphatically, even though she was only a few feet off the ground. The platforms collapsed. "So how do I get out of here?"

"You use less energy per platform, and slowly make your way out." Jinta said. "It's not that hard, but you have to control it.

Karin went at it again, this time she managed three steps. She got to the point where falling from the steps hurt, and fell asleep. Tessai set the marker at 50 feet. "Still a ways to go kid..."

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Isshin Kurosaki sat down to dinner by himself for the first time in forever. As far as his son's involvement with the vizards, he was playing it none the wiser. Yuzu never had much spiritual pressure to sense, and Karin was safe. He only assumed this because she was extremely close to Urahara, who he knew, could protect her through hell and high water. He took a bite of his fresh from the box potatoes, gagged, and decided to stay hungry that night. His little master chef Yuzu would be home in no time right?

Isshin settled down, winding down with a cup of coffee and the local newspaper. No sense worrying himself over these trivial things right? He knew Ichigo was strong, Karin was with Urahara, and Yuzu was such a sweet little thing that nothing could have happened to her! He went to take a shower.

The hot water felt good on the retired captain's back. He turned it up as hot as it would go, to help wash away the stress. He had grown worried about Yuzu over the last couple of hours, she hadn't left a note, hadn't left a message or bothered to call. This was totally uncharacteristic of the usually clingy child Isshin had raised so well. He the water burns his skin to a bright pink before stepping out of the shower.

He had dried off his hair; his face had been placid all night long. His old captain's side was showing as the goofy dad role had no place in such a vacant world. Without someone to laugh or indulge, the roll was completely dead. He turned on the TV, said a prayer for his wife, and left the house. His attire: An old dusty robe and dirty white piece of cloth.

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"Come on..." Karin huffed and puffed, "Come on...!!!" She continued to doge her way up skipping from platform to platform. "Come on!!!" Jinta yelled down at her. The attempt drew to a close as Karin lost her footing on one of her platforms fell. She had made it too the 100 foot mark, and at 63 hours, it was hard to say if she was going to make it or not.

"Damn it!" Karin yelled as she hit the ground. Tessai was glad that she was doing better than the other Kurosaki, but time was running out. With only nine hours left on the clock, Karin was stretching it for time. She decided that after reaching the half-way point, she earned a nap.

It was 7 hours before she finally woke up, having not slept the entire time. She found a big plate of food in front of her, which she devoured vigorously. She had only 1 hour left before she reached the top, and everyone present knew that she couldn't overcome an inner hollow as Ichigo had. Ichigo was stronger spiritually, there was no doubt, but Karin was more aware. She started her way up.

"You can do it Karin!!!" Ururu shouted down the shaft, showing the first sign of "fiery passion" that anyone had ever seen. Karin was about 75 feet up when she shouted again, "We all know you can do it!"

"Ya, your way cooler than that Ichigo kid!" Jinta added, fueling Karin even more. She reached the 125 foot point. She was growing tired, but she would be damned if she would stop now.

"We all believe in you!" Tessai added from the bottom of the pit, surprising all parties involved at the time. "Keep going!!!" He yelled up to the determined girl as she hit the 175 foot mark.

"Looks like she might actually get it..." Urahara said as she finally made it to the 190 foot mark. Karin however, found herself stuck. Her feet wouldn't obey her, and the platform beneath her fell through. She plummeted straight down, head first, into the pit.

Karin couldn't help the tears escaping from her eyes as she fell. The final encroachment had begun, and her body was in extreme pain. If that wasn't the end of her suffering, she could feel the ground getting closer to her. She knew she was dead, her neck was going to break or she was going to be killed by whatever this chain thing in her chest was. She looked up to the fake sky one last time, amazed at how peaceful it was... except one thing... "Damn you red ribbon..." Karin though as she saw a ribbon gently floating down towards her, "Go away, I'm enjoying my death!" The ribbon was persistent. It followed her.

Karin felt only slight fear as the ribbon reached down and wrapped around her soul chain's base. The pain of encroachment instantly disappeared as the ribbon tied a firm knot around the rung on the base. Suddenly, Karin felt herself being lifted down, and she was no longer in a pit, but rather in a graceful field. She marveled at it. There was a large tree in the distance with beautiful pink flowers, a large meadow to her left, and a bamboo field to her right. "Where am I?" She asked, "Heaven?"

"Well you're nothing special..." Karin heard. She looked around and behind her she saw a tall, well built man kneeling in a field of flowers. He was holding the red ribbon which was connected to Karin's soul chain base. "I'm kidding of course." The man said. His face was strong; his eyes were a brilliant, flowing blue, just like the sky. His rugged 5 o'clock shadow was more pronounced than her fathers, and she thought it was pretty cool looking. Karin scanned the rest of his body; his robes were bight white and were simply, yet elegantly designed. He continued speaking, "You managed to make it here, which I congratulate you for."

"Who are you?" Karin asked. It's not often that you see a man like this! She wasn't sure if she should be scared or comforted.

"I am Miyabita Kaze, an extension of your soul. I am here to help, but first you have to earn it..." He got to his feet. "Let's play a game shall we?"

"No way! I wanna know where I am first!" Karin shouted. He was already gone, but the wind had picked up. Karin found herself being blown away by the wind; she managed to catch a bamboo shoot for support. She was being blown completely sideways, barely able to hold onto the thin stick of bamboo. Miyabita appeared again.

"Beautiful day isn't it!?" He yelled over the howling winds. "The perfect time to challenge your host soul!" He yelled to her.

"What do you mean? Challenge? Host soul?" Karin was doing her best to yell while still hanging on. It was remarkable that he was standing so still. His robes were going crazy.

"Ohh relax, all you gotta do is decipher this..." He walked over and handed her a poem. It read: 'Bring me the power of the wind, carry the strength of the ages, and tie my fate with eternity: Miyabita Kaze.' Karin looked over it.

"What the hell does this mean?" Karin said as she read the poem to herself. "Isn't your name Miyabita Kaze?" She said, completely confused.

"Ya, 99.999% of Zanpakuto like to hear their name. That's why it's in our release command… it's an ego thing..." He yelled. "Now pay attention, I wanna hear that pretty poem, even when you are scared to death! I want you to remember that, even when your life is on the line!"

"Alright whatever!" Karin yelled. She really wished the wind would stop. The man smiled and vanished. Karin felt something awfully strange and it took some time to realize what it was. The bamboo in her hands had turned into a sword a sheath, and what's more, it had come detached from the ground. Karin was being carried away in the wind, and that scared her. She looked around, and behind her she saw a giant chasm. She started to panic, she took her sword out and stuck it in the ground, that didn't help.

"Remember my pretty poem?" A voice on the wind said, "I wrote just for you little girl, and I would like to hear it..." Karin panicked. The little piece of paper was stuck to her chest and she pealed it off as quickly as she could. It sounded ridiculous, but all of this crap was! She began to recite it.

"Bring me the power of the wind, carry the strength of the ages, and tie my fate with eternity: Miyabita Kaze!" Karin yelled word for word. She didn't hear anything but rather watched as the bamboo sword transform. The shaft grew a little longer, and transformed into a more porous shaft of bamboo. The cool thing however, was the blade. The original blade grew, and the other side grew one as well, like two swords stuck together! The blades were also hollow, consisting of only a metal edge rather than being solid metal straight through. It made the design very, very light, perfect for an 11 year old girl.

"Now just hold me out." Karin heard the sword say. She did as she was told and the wind flew into the blades. She stopped just before falling into the chasm. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"What are you?!" Karin asked the sword. The spirit materialized in front of her, holding the same blade.

"I'm a Zanpakuto, I already told you that!" He said playfully. "But we can talk more later, for you, it's time for you to go." He held out his sword and a massive wind threw Karin into the chasm. She was about to curse him out, but saw that the "Endless Chasm" was actually only a few feet from the ground, and it was really close to Urahara. Karin landed gracefully, still holding Miyabita in her hand.

"Ahh there you are!" Urahara said as if nothing was amiss. "We weren't expecting you to be back so soon!"

"I was going to die!" Karin said. She hadn't been paying attention, but she was now wearing a small version of the shinigami's robes.

"I don't think anyone has ever died in that step, their Zanpakuto cares too much about them!" Urahara said, "Looks like you met yours! What's its name?"

"Uhh... Miyabita Kaze." Karin said holding the blade up. Even having her hand around it made her feel 100 times more powerful.

"Elegant wind..." Urahara said, "What a beautiful name, and such a strange sword! I can't wait to see you fight!"


	3. Graduation!

"This is the final test… you will learn how to use your sword." Urahara said as he removed a blade from his own. Karin looked at him with fright as he held the blade out. "I will be pushing you to learn it's ways until you know all there is to know about it…"

"How are you gonna do that…?" Karin asked, frightened of what the response might be. Urahara looked her with a stone cold face and rushed at her. She was barely able to block the strike, "What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at him, barely able to hold his blade back.

"I'm making you learn…" he said placidly before he withdrew and came at her again. This was all new to Karin; it might have been a different story if the blade was more simplistic, but it had two sides! How do you even learn to fight with something like that?!

Urahara was relentless in his blows just as he had been with Ichigo, and Karin was beginning to feel it. He threw her, beat her, cut her, and she still had no idea what he was getting at. He chucked her through a small pile of rocks and came at her with no sign of stopping. Karin had no way of stopping him as he and went for a downward cut which may have very well killed Karin had something interesting not happened.

Everything lost color, going to grayscale, and went into super slow motion. Karin found herself still able to move, but something was holding her. She looked down to see two hands holding onto hers, but they were much larger and were rougher in texture. She looked up to see the same man she had met before when she was in that pretty place. "Mind if I show you something?" The man asked her.

Urahara pulled his blade overhead slowly, the time reduced to a fraction of what it normally was. Karin nodded and the man began to explain, "See, all you gotta do is focus your spiritual pressure into the ends of the blades, and then twist the blade outwards." He told her. She did as she was told and time entered real time once again. However, Urahara was shot back by a powerful gust of wind just before he cut Karin in two. "It's called Chikarazuyoi Soyokaze. It can never kill an opponent, but it will give you some time to recuperate or deliver a kill strike."

"Good…" Urahara said as he dusted himself off. "But there is more, I can feel already if you can't, but don't worry. Well draw it out of you…" He went at her again. She tried to use Chikarazuyoi Soyokaze, but Urahara simply held his hand out and absorbed the breeze. He redirected it at Karin who ended up flying backwards into another set of rocks.

"Ouch…" Karin couldn't help but mutter as she withdrew from the rocks. "Can we take a break or something?" She asked as she rubbed her behind, clearly in pain from slammed into so many obstacles.

"Alright…" Urahara said, putting his own blade to the ground. "I want to do an exercise with you…"

"What? Exercise?" Karin asked, completely befuddled.

"It's easy. I want you to hold your breath, but keep your mouth and lungs open…" Urahara said. "Try not to breathe in…"

Karin did as she was told, or tried to. No matter what she did, there was always air flying into her lungs. She had to breathe out to counter this effect. "What the hell?"

"I noticed when I was fighting you…" Urahara said, "I had trouble breathing when I was too close to you and I noticed something strange about the airflow around your body. When I grabbed your neck, I felt a breeze along my arm. When I grabbed your sword's handle, I felt a breeze along both sides of that as well…"

"What are you saying?" Karin asked. Now that he had mentioned it, she did feel like there might have been air flowing over her hands while she fought. She was just too busy getting her ass kicked to notice.

"It would be my guess that your Zanpakuto takes air from the environment and uses it both as a weapon and as a means of fueling its owner." Urahara explained.

"It's known as Taiki Nottori or literally, Air Capture." A voice said from Karin's hands. The sword was talking to her. "As long as you are holding onto me, I can breathe for you, as well as take power from the atmosphere. That's where I gain my power. Where we gain our power I mean…" It told her. She couldn't actually believe a sword was talking to her, but it wasn't completely ridiculous considering the past 48 hours. "Now quickly, while he isn't looking. I want you to take all of your spiritual pressure and force it into the tip of my blade, and then release it as you stab forwards. I think you'll be pleased. That ability is known as Fukumi Supaiku: Atmosphere spike."

Urahara was sitting on the ground, looking at Karin, waiting for her to get done with her Zanpakuto. Normally, it wouldn't be so obvious that someone's sword was communicating with them, but Karin was looking at the blade with such a strange expression that Urahara couldn't help but know what was going on. He didn't expect however, a massive spike of air fly from the tip of Karin's blade and come flying at him. He barely got up a shield in time, but one thing was sacrificed.

"My hat…" He said, picking it up off the ground. It had a hole through the center of it and the material was frayed. "Damn it…"

Karin leapt at him and swung her sword at him. He was too busy with his hat to see the blade come flying at his face, or so Karin thought. He stuck out his hand and caught the blade between two fingers. Karin gave him a look of shock, fear, and hope. She was shocked that he had been able to stop the blade with his bare hand, fear at what he might do when he recovered from his hat trauma, and hope that he might not hurt her when he had completely aforementioned recovery. He held her blade in place as he noted the damage on his hat. Suddenly, he took the hat and shoved it onto Karin's head, slamming her into the ground in the process. She laid there, face in the dirt, wearing a tattered hat.

"I'll go get a new one…" Urahara said before walking off with Benihime on his shoulder, leaving Karin in the dust.

"Alright…" A man said to her left, of course, being the same one as before. "That didn't work so hot…"

"You think!" Karin yelled at him, throwing the hat to the ground as she jumped to her feet. "What the hell was that supposed to be? He could have killed me!"

"Ya … didn't think that one through entirely…" He said as he got to her level. "But don't worry, you still have a lot to learn!" He said happily. He was holding the same sword as she was.

"How did you get that?" Karin asked as she picked up her own.

"Get this? I am this!" He said holding it out in front of him. "I am your Zanpakuto, Miyabita Kaze. I am your soul, a part of it at least. This weapon combines both of our ideals, making it the ideal weapon for both you and I. You know its three abilities. One is passive, the other two are active. They will get stronger as you do, allowing you to eventually fight off even the greatest of evils."

"Can it help me play soccer?" Karin asked, looking at the blade again.

"I would imagine that any weapon would help you play soccer, but I wouldn't think that's in the rulebook…" Miyabita joked. "But hey, if you can get it added, I bet you would win a lot of games…"

"So what am I supposed to do with it? It's not very good for fighting right now…" Karin said, handling the blade with care. Two sided swords were hard to fight with! "Having a blade on both sides really makings cutting things impossible…"

"That's why you stab with it. A stab can deal much more damage if placed right. Unless you're as strong as that guy…" Miyabita said, pointing up the ladder, "And your only a little girl, so you're not gonna be. For now, just worry about stabbing."

"But it makes everything harder!" Karin complained.

"Ya, but you have to realize that in this form, it's mostly used for defense. It's unpredictable and allows you to fight more than one person at a time. Its design makes it unpredictable, allowing you to fight two or more opponents at one time." Miyabita explained, showing several parries to Karin.

"But wouldn't I want to kill someone instead of just defending?" Karin asked.

"Trust me… you aren't going to want to kill her…" Miyabita said darkly, forebodingly.

"What do you mean...?" Karin asked, completely confusing by his sudden change in demeanor. "Who's her?"

"Nothing… forget about it!" He said, rubbing her hair. "Alright… I'll show the trick…" Miyabita said, faking dread as he twisted the handle at both ends. Predictably, he pulled the staff apart, making two different blades.

"Ohh!" Karin said as she repeated his process. "Now I can kill stuff!" Miyabita groaned.

"That's not the point!" He said sternly, "I don't like you being so aggressive. You're an adorable little girl and you shouldn't be thinking about killing people!"

"Would you stop calling me a little girl!?" Karin commanded, frustrated by his comments.

"Would you stop being a little girl?" Miyabita retorted. Karin blushed for the first time in a while. She was in fact, a little girl.

"Touché…" She said. She yawned. "Why am I so sleepy? I haven't been this tired in years!"

"Having a Zanpakuto can make a shinigami sleepy!" He said with a smile.

"I'm a shinigami?" She asked innocently. She finally noticed the robes she was wearing. "I look like Ichigo!" She said sounding a tad shocked.

"Get used to it. Until you are well stronger than your brother, you aren't gonna have much luck. Or until your dead…" He said still smiling. Karin was going to retaliate with a snide comment, but lost her consciousness.

******************************************************************************

"But I don't understand!" Yuzu cried as Aizen kicked her in the chest. "Why are we doing this? I wanna stop!" She said through her tears. Aizen was much less gentle than Urahara, and Yuzu was much less stoic than Karin. He held his blade to her throat.

"You are much weaker than your family." He said he cut into her flesh. She cried out in pain and fear. "Why is this?"

"Daddy tells me that I was born last…" Yuzu said, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I was born 1 hour after Karin was… He always joked that I wanted to be born on a separate day so we wouldn't be twins." She said, fondly remembering how he had often joked about that. What happened to those days? Why did she have to be here now?

"Hmm… so power decreases with bloodline…" Aizen said as he kicked her in the side. She fell to the ground with tears streaming down her face. "Did it ever occur to you that Isshin is a doctor and might have done that on purpose?" Aizen said as he handed her the sword that she had dropped. Over the past few days, he had been successfully convincing her that her family was entirely against her. He was much stronger mentally than the young child, and had easily overwhelmed her logic with his own.

"But then how am I supposed to fight them! You said yourself that Ichigo and daddy were super strong!" Yuzu said as she accepted the blade. She readied herself for more strikes, but Aizen easily knocked the blade out of her hand and kicked her into a wall. She spat out blood as she collided and lost consciousness. Aizen had pushed too hard for the fragile young soul and she had to take a break. His method was much less refined than Urahara's, but was proven to if the soul was strong enough.

His method basically consisted of beating the living hell out of the subject until they finally found it inside of them to survive. It was basically having the reveal their Zanpakuto and train it at the same time, but was fatal much more quickly than the ulterior method. Aizen had intended to use her as his third commander, but if she died, that wouldn't work. However, Aizen wouldn't let her die, and he always had a backup plan…

Yuzu trembled as her body fought to get up. Aizen came over to her, "You're useless… your family was right, you have never benefitted anyone, and you never will…" Yuzu couldn't retaliate; she lost conscious. Aizen stabbed her, missing her vitals, but still causing her a variable amount of pain. Aizen continued to prod with his blade at her arms and legs as she slept.

Yuzu woke up in a dark, empty void. Her entire body ached and spikes of pain shot through her arms, legs, and chest. She couldn't speak, or even breathe, but tears streaked her bruised cheeks. She was falling; she knew she was falling even though there was no breeze, something just told her. She hit the ground. She wasn't dead, but she sure wished she was. Her family didn't want her, according to Aizen of course… She was being tortured, beaten, and pushed to her limits by some man who she didn't even know. Her life had inverted itself; it was peaceful only a few days ago, and now it was hell. She laid on the ground and cried her eyes out, not caring where she was.

"Are you ok?!" A timid yet extremely concerned voice said from a distance. Yuzu looked out and saw something strange. There was a petite figure standing far in the distance. The small creature got closer to Yuzu, taking small steps at first until she broke into a run. "It's you!!!" The small girl yelled. She ran over to Yuzu's side.

"Who are you?" Yuzu asked. Her pain was suddenly gone. "Where are we?"

"We're in you silly!" The creature said as it tickled Yuzu's tummy. It was about 6 inches shorter than Yuzu and it had beautiful wings covered in brown feathers. She had shoulder length brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She had really strange white and green robes on that were absolutely beautiful. Yuzu felt underdressed for the occasion of meeting this bird girl. "I'm Koumyou Uingu! Nice to meet you!" Koumyou said, pulling Yuzu into a hug. Yuzu returned the embrace, welcoming any and all pleasant contact. Yuzu cried and it began to rain.

"Why is it raining?" Yuzu asked.

"Cause you're sad… it rains here a lot sometimes…" Uingu said, "It makes me sad when it rains here, cause I know that you are sad…" Uingu started to cry as well. Yuzu held the poor creature in her arms and they hugged each other until both had cried all their tears.

In the real world, Aizen was about to give up but he felt a surge of spiritual pressure from the girl. He knew he had to give her even more motivation and he knew exactly how to do so. He pulled her over to a nearby window and threw her out.

Yuzu felt herself falling again, with her new friend Koumyou. Yuzu was extremely frightened as she looked down and actually saw a ground that she was going to hit. She began to panic but Koumyou was holding her up, badly… She was only slowing the fall. She screamed down to Yuzu, "I can't do this! You have to do it!" Koumyou said in a panic. "Take this!" Koumyou then touched her wing to Yuzu's hands.

A piece of paper appeared and Yuzu began to read it. She had a habit of reading out loud, which worked greatly in her favor here. "Koumyou Uingu: Bring me the glory of the skies, lend me your wings and I will lend you my soul!" Yuzu said. Just as the ground came into clear view, wings sprouted from Yuzu's back.

It tickled, and Yuzu laughed for the first time in the last few days as the wings gained their feathers and she came to a halt in the sky. Koumyou came up to her and handed her a sword. "This is to keep you safe! Don't lose it, cause I like it a lot!" She said as she handed Yuzu a beautiful, ornate katana. It was much shorter than most, more of a wakazashi than a real katana, but it fit Yuzu's size perfectly. Its metal was white, with gold decorations. It was also very, very light. "Don't lose it though! Those wings are tied to this sword, so if you drop it, you will lose the wings. Don't lose it ok?" Koumyou asked, completely sincere. Yuzu nodded.

"Of course!" Yuzu said as she hugged her Zanpakuto. Suddenly, the girl vanished and Yuzu lost her grip on her. Aizen looked out the window to see a very confused Yuzu floating a few feet above the ground. The only difference was the beautiful wings that spanned from her back.

"Excellent…" Aizen said. "Come back up here!" He calmly said, somehow reaching her with his gently voice.

Yuzu didn't know what to do until Gin and Tosen grabbed her arms. She started flying up. Tosen had let go, but Gin had wrapped his body around her arm and was swinging back and forth, "Wee!!!" He said comically. Aizen let out a small chuckled upon seeing Yuzu struggle to support both her and Gin.

"I see you found your Zanpakuto…" Aizen said as Tosen tried to pull Gin away.

"Huh? Ohh ya!" Yuzu said, remembering her friend, "Her name is Koumyou Uingu! She's a really pretty girl who I met."

"Really? Glorified Wings…" Aizen said, translating the Zanpakuto name into something more comprehendible. "I see why she calls herself that…" He said as he saw Yuzu's beautiful wings flapping in the calm Hueco Mundo sky.

"So what does this mean?" Yuzu said as she struggled under Gin's weight.

"Gin!" Aizen said, "Stop being a monkey and help Ms. Kurosaki learn what those wings of hers can do."

Gin climbed off her arm and stepped back, "Alright little girl… let's see what you've got…" he said as he took his blade out with a menacing smile. He pointed his sword right at her and laughed, "Shinso: Impale her!"


	4. Trouble and Sunbeams

*Ring!* Karin sighed as another boring day of school ended. She just wanted to go home, take one of the strange pills that Urahara had given her, and try out her new sword! Miyabita Kaze was so awesome! She had spent the entirety of her weekend just trying out different moves and stuff. Urahara was more than happy to help her learn how to parry blows from two sides, how to deal kill strikes, how to fight with a two sided weapon, and even learning how to fight with the disconnected version. Fighting with two blades was a lot to think about!

Karin also had a lot of trouble taking her mind off of her sister. Her father's goofy smile had reminded her, but he tended to disappear at night. Karin was positive that she was dreaming because he was wearing black robes with some white table cloth pinned on his shoulder. Not even he was stupid enough to wear that out right? And how the hell did he even come across such strange clothing? Karin knew that it was just her overreacting to the grief of Yuzu not being safe and sound in her bed. Karin hated sleeping in that room without Yuzu, she relied on Yuzu's soft breathing to fall asleep, as it let her know that everything was ok.

Karin ran home, super excited to get home, take out her blade and work on her attacks. She had to save Yuzu from something, and she knew that she had to be completely prepared to do so. She already had a sword, she was working on its attacks, and her teacher was actually fairly intelligent. Sure, he was nuts, but whatever. You take what you can get right?

Karin was running along but to the books, and large hollow landed not 10 feet from her. She was about to turn tail and run, but she remembered something. "Ohh ya?!" She yelled up to it. It roared as she reached into her bag and took out one of the candies that Urahara had given her…

_"This is a Gikongai, often Romanized as Soul Candy. It will replace your body with a separate soul, allowing it to run while you fight." Urahara explained to her days before. "It makes a shinigami's life a lot less of a hassle as their bodies won't get destroyed when they are fighting."_

_"Does it taste like candy?" Karin asked him as she held one up._

_"Don't chew it…" Urahara said firmly, "That's murder you silly goose!" He said joyfully as he messed up her hair._

_"So I just swallow it?" Karin asked him, taking a closer look at the pill._

_"Exactly… Then you just tell the soul to leave with your body and take care of your fight. It's elegant, cause you don't have to worry about your body getting destroyed by your opponent, you can just focus on the fight at hand." Urahara said. "So next time you want to try, fight, or just look at your Zanpakuto, just pop one of these in!"_

Karin popped it into her mouth, unaware of her surroundings. She quickly told the spirit inside of her soul to "Beat it!" and then she took out her sword. The currently hidden audience was stunned by this, not expecting to see another shinigami here. He was even more shocked as she said the following. "Bring me the power of the wind, carry the strength of the ages, and tie my fate with eternity: Miyabita Kaze!" Her small bamboo katana sprouted another blade and she took a battle stance. "Let's go you jerk!" She yelled up to the hollow.

The hollow was in the shape of a monkey, with huge arms and tiny little legs. Karin was stoked as the creature threw a blow her way. She made slash and cut his hand. Her cutting power was very small compared to most shinigami because she had only been one for 3 days! It left a decent gash on the hollows arm, much to her joy. It went for another blow.

Much of Karin's power laid in her small size and her speed. Her agility allowed her to easily dodge the hollows predictable strikes. The hidden viewers watched as she fought on par with the hollow. Karin finally decided to end it. She leapt up in the air and pointed her blade at the hollow's mask, shouting "Fukumi Supaiku!" The hollow's mask was crushed inwards by a spike of air which was so concentrated, it appeared white.

Karin landed showing no signs of exhaustion. She found her body and was about to jump in when… "KARIN!?"

Karin turned around just in time to see Rangiku's chest tackling her. Rangiku held the girl in an embrace as she gushed about how adorable she looked in her new robes. "So you're a shinigami now?!" Rangiku asked her.

"Sorta…" Karin said, "It's complicated… is Toshiro here?"

"Ya! Captain!!!" Rangiku yelled to a nearby bush, "Come say hello!"

"I don't want to…" Toshiro said as he poked his head out.

"But you saw what she did! This may be worth telling the head-captain about!!!" Rangiku said, "She's already super strong, maybe she's even strong enough to classify for a seat!!!"

"I actually have to find my sister…" Karin said, trying to avoid wasting time. Yuzu was in trouble somewhere and Karin was determined to save her.

"What happened?" Rangiku asked.

"She was taken. Mr. Urahara said something about garganta essence or something from the spot she was taken…" Rangiku and Toshiro froze as they heard the word.

"Garganta? Arrancar?!" Toshiro said, "Karin, you must come with us! We need to talk with you!"

"But I need to train! I need to save Yuzu!!!" Karin yelled out. Toshiro vented his spiritual pressure into her, causing her to faint. He picked her up by her arm.

"Captain…" Rangiku teased, "If you wanted a hug… all you had to do was ask!" Toshiro blushed before he opened up the Senkaimon and walked in with Karin on his back.

******************************************************************************

Yuzu took a direct blow from the powerful shinigami's sword. It struck her left wing and put a hole in it. Yuzu started to panic, but Koumyou Uingu appeared next to her. "You aren't at an advantage right here! Get to some light, or I can't help you fight!"

Yuzu did as she was told. She flew up, above Los Noches, just catching the morning sun on her wings. The feathers started to glow and the blade started to shake. "Are you ok?" Yuzu asked her blade. She heard a loud "YES!" as the sun rose. It was an artificial sun yes, but it would work for her. Gin came up from behind her.

"You're glowing!" Gin he said as the blade flew at Yuzu once again. Yuzu managed to find time to get out of the way and saw that Gin was completely defenseless. He didn't seem concerned in the slightest, but Yuzu had avoided the hit and her opponent was defenseless! Yuzu visibly smiled as she drew in closer to Gin. She pulled her blade above her head and got ready to cut the crazy man in half!

Gin caught the blade bare handed. "You junior shinigami sure are cocky…" He said he cut upwards with Shinso. He took off one of her wings and dropped her. She plummeted to the surface far below, tears flying off her face. The sun caught her eyes, and her remaining feathers, and something started to tickle her.

She actually found herself laughing as she fell to her death. It was only when the tickling stopped did Yuzu realize what had happened. Feeling had returned to her "missing" wing.

"I always have your back!" Koumyou said happily, coming out of nowhere as she hugged Yuzu. Yuzu gained more confidence as she flew back up to meet Gin. She expected him to be shocked, and she glowed as he looked her over.

"I told you Aizen!" He shouted down to his commander, "It grew back!" Yuzu stopped smiling as Gin turned his view back to her.

"Let's play some more… see what those silly wings of yours can do…" Gin said as he charged at Yuzu once again. Yuzu found herself more confident to defend herself as the sun continued to rise, and her blade glowed brighter and brighter.

******************************************************************************

Karin woke up in a strange new place. She was being carried, something that she didn't like… She leapt out of the personas arms and readied her blade. It was only Rangiku…

"Well someone's awake!" Rangiku said, holding Karin's blade back. Karin quickly corrected her mistake and put her blade away.

"Sorry… I'm just tense…" Karin said, blushing as she sheathed her sword. "Where are we?"

"This is the Seireitei! My apartment to be exact. This is an afterlife, where most people go when they die. The Soul Society refers to it as a whole, and it includes the Rukongai and the Seireitei." Rangiku explained. Karin stopped her.

"You said an afterlife, is there more than one?" Karin asked, "Is Yuzu here?"

"There are many. The two primary ones are the Soul Society, and the other one where your sister is, Hueco Mundo…" Rangiku said, "It is known as the world of the hollows, and where three traitors have set up their base."

"Is she dead?!" Karin asked, "Like dead dead I mean…"

"We don't know…" Rangiku admitted, "We have been working really hard to try and find out, but no shinigami in their right mind would enter Hueco Mundo right now…"

"So why am I here?" Karin asked, "Am I in trouble?"

"No. But we are going to have to ask some questions." A voice said from behind. It was mature, strong, and carried an aura of power with every spoken word. Karin turned to see a tall man with long white hair wearing a similar coat to Toshiro.

"About what?" Karin asked.

"Your involvement and how you became involved in all of this. We need to know about how you became a shinigami, how you found out about your sister's fate, and what you plan to do next." The man told her. Karin couldn't object to him, he may have been commanding but he was very nice. He sounded almost concerned about her fate.

He lead her through the Seireitei, introducing himself as Jushiro Ukitake, told him more about who he would be meeting with, and even apologized for his sister's sudden disappearance. She walked into a large room lined with individuals. They all wore the same white coat and the man at the end waved for Karin to come into the room. "Karin Kurosaki!" He said, his voice was booming and heavy. "I trust Captain Ukitake has already explained to you what we are going to talk about, so why don't you start from the beginning…"

******************************************************************************

Yuzu had collected enough information from her Zanpakuto as she fought. Gin had toned it down reasonably, making sure to give her a fair chance to learn of her abilities. "Kudakero Awai Keta!" Yuzu yelled as she held up her sword. A beam of light ran from the sky and hit her blade, and was fractured. The beams rotated around and burn anything the touched. Gin was having no problem dodging the girl, and found fighting her largely humorous.

Yuzu's power was derived from light, and as she absorbed more and more light, her wings would glow. When they reached max charge, they reached a brilliant white color which rivaled the sun in intensity. Gin said it made her look like an angel. "I'll go to hell if I kill can angel!" Gin said, mocking her. "I don't wanna go to hell!" Yuzu was still a very, very low level shinigami, and even with her fully charged wings, Gin was more than a match for her.

It also didn't help that Gin's eyes were constantly squinting, which took away the power from her other ability which basically blinded her opponents. Aizen finally decided that he recycle, and he threw a few arrancar into the ring with Yuzu. The first was a menos class which had miraculously taken a human form. The arrancar was no match; its release was a rhinoceros, and Yuzu had no trouble dodging its bulky, slow, and predictable attacks. She brought her sword down into the beast.

Her first kill was strange to her, she felt bad, but it also made her feel safe. She couldn't help but cry over the body, even though she didn't even know the arrancar.

Aizen walked over to her. "You thought that was hard?" He asked, "Taking a life?" Yuzu nodded as she dried her tears. He turned his back to her, "I think it's time for a test…" Yuzu looked up in shock as he opened a Garganta.

******************************************************************************

"So Kisuke Urahara gave you these powers?" Yamamoto asked Karin as she sat in the center of the room. No one else was talking and it was really creeping her out. She felt like she was being lectured by this really really old man and once more, she was growing tired.

"Yes, but he trained me. He didn't just give it to much, I had to earn them!" Karin said, trying to defend her "sensei".

"Do you feel he broke any laws?" Yamamoto asked. He was clearly out of place in interviewing this child. He was used to conducting interviews with captains, not 11 year old girls who had just recently discovered their powers.

"I don't know…" Karin sighed as she started to fall asleep. Yamamoto decided that he had gotten enough from her and if she was gonna fall asleep on him, he didn't need her there. He used his spiritual pressure to overtake her. She passed out on the floor of the conference room.

"Captain Ukitake, Captain Hitsugaya…" Yamamoto said as he pointed to the girl, "Take her and watch over her. We don't want her getting hurt. If Aizen tries to make a move, you know what you must do." The two captains nodded in acknowledgement before picking up Karin and moving off.

Karin woke up moments later in the squad 10 captain's quarters. She looked around, finding herself to be some place completely strange to her. It didn't feel bad however, as she could sense Toshiro's spiritual pressure. It didn't take much to sense his Reiatsu as he was only 15 feet away from her, waving good-bye to Captain Ukitake. He came back and sat down at a low table and began to sip some tea. Karin decided it might be a good time to sit down and talk with him. "Hey Toshiro…" She said very casually as she sat down across from him.

"You see this?" He said, picking up the edge of his white Haori and showing it to her, "This means that I am Captain Hitsugaya! Not Toshiro, not Shiro, Captain Hitsugaya!"

"Whatever. You're still just a grade schooler…" Karin said as she took a sip of tea.

"Damn it!" He yelled out, hardly anyone respected the title! Not Shunsui, not Momo, not even Ukitake half the time. He let Ukitake slide with it, because he had said that he only called him Little Shiro because they both have white hair. But Karin was something else! She was 11!

"Hey…" Karin said, getting slightly more serious, "Do you think Yuzu is ok?" She asked him timidly.

"I'm sure…" Toshiro said. He saw the tears in her eyes and being almost as studly as Ichigo, replied to the tears the only way he knew how…

"Suck it up!" He yelled at her. "There's no point in crying over it! She's gonna be just fine! You even said in the interview that Yuzu was a smart girl and that she usually knew how to handle herself!"

"But you said that these other guys were as strong as you!" Karin said, caught off guard but not necessarily surprised by his retort. "What if they killed her?!"

"I don't think they would… I knew all of these people and they wouldn't just kill some little girl for no reason…" Hitsugaya said calmly and honestly. He feared that it might turn into a hostage situation at the very worst.

The two sat quietly for a while. Karin was slightly comforted by this, but still worried for her sister's sake.

******************************************************************************

"Do you understand what you have to do?" Aizen asked Yuzu as he showed her the garganta portal. "And why?"

"Yes… I understand…" Yuzu said, already crying at the thought of what her master was asking her to do. However, he had given her very good reason to do so days before…

_"You think they love you?" Aizen asked._

_"They do!" Yuzu said, completely in disbelief. However, Aizen had both his vastly superior intellect and Kyoka Suigetsu to convince the child otherwise._

_Yuzu watched in horror as Aizen simply pointed to his left. There she was, as a child sitting in a sandbox along with Karin and Ichigo. Her parents were talking, "I don't know…" Her father said._

_"You don't like her either!" Masaki whispered, pointing right at Yuzu, "She's inferior to the other two in every way and you know it! We would be so much happier!" Yuzu cried out in horror as her father nodded in agreement. Of course, none of this had actually happened, but Yuzu was only three in the illusion. Yuzu didn't remember anything from when she was this young, so it was completely believable. She watched in horror as her mother continued._

_"We could just put her up for adoption! We didn't even want her in the first place, so why not make life easier on ourselves." She said to Isshin, "It would only take a second and we would never even have to think about her again!" Karin kicked some sand in Yuzu's face and their parents simply laughed. Normally, Yuzu might have gotten suspicious, as this would have never ever happened, but by this point she was in hysterics. 'It's all true!' Yuzu thought to herself, 'My family never even wanted me!'_

_Aizen later explained the conspiracy theory behind it, how they were trying to kill the spirit world that they were living in. He gave Yuzu reason to hate._

_However, had Yuzu just looked in the hallway, she would have listened to the conversation in the hallway to know it was a cleaver hoax._

_"Did I make an awesome Masaki or what?!" Harribel asked. Stark simply nodded. His role as Isshin was easy enough, as all he had to do was say "I don't know…" and nod. Those were some of his favorite things to do!_

_Sun-sun and Apache had pretended to enjoy their role as Karin and Yuzu simply to satisfy Harribel. Ggio Vega had somehow been dragged along to play as Ichigo Kurosaki, which he was fine with as he had bolted the moment it was over._

"I will do exactly as you told me…" Yuzu said, pulling her sword out of its sheath. She stepped into the portal.

******************************************************************************

"What kinda tea is this?" Karin asked as she sipped. "It's great!"

"Okai leaf." Hitsugaya said. "Exclusive to the spirit world. It's my favorite kind of tea."

"Awesome!" Karin said as she took another sip. She wished it would just cool down so she could down it. It was that good! "Hey what's that?" Karin asked as she noticed some slight warping in the sky. The two rushed out and saw a dark portal open. Out stepped none other than Yuzu Kurosaki, dressed in the standard arrancar robes with her blade drawn.


	5. Conflict and Reversal!

"So my little girl is following mine and Ichigo's path then huh?" Isshin asked Urahara. The two had spent well over a day talking about the past, present, and potential future. Urahara had chronicled Karin's progress as a soul reaper, and how similar her temperament was to Ichigo's. He also mentioned how much smarter she was than Ichigo. "I always knew she would be…" Isshin said with a chuckle.

"Do you think that she'll do it?" Urahara asked cryptically, but Isshin knew what he meant.

"Aizen cheats… you and I both know that…" Isshin said as he put his feet up on Urahara's coffee table.

"Yup…" Urahara said, doing the same thing. "So that's where we come in?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Isshin simply nodded.

******************************************************************************

Yuzu fell to the ground, but managed to land elegantly considering her small degree of training.

"Yuzu!!!" Karin screamed as she jumped to meet her sister. Yuzu was completely placid, which was strange, but Karin didn't care. She jumped up to meet her twin sister. Yuzu flicker her blade and dashed towards Karin.

"Move!" Hitsugaya yelled as he tackled Karin, pushing her away from Yuzu's slashing radius. Karin watch in horror as Yuzu went back to her statuesque stance. "What are you doing?! She's wearing arrancar robes!"

"She's my sister!" Karin yelled out. She yelled up to Yuzu who simply stood there. She had tears streaking her face, that was clear, but she didn't acknowledge Karin. Karin struggled out of Toshiro's grip and jumped up to meet her sister. "Yuzu! It's me Karin!"

Yuzu went for another strike, wanting to end this as soon as she possibly could. Karin wasn't able to get out of the way fully and her chest was cut clean open. She withdrew pulling her own sword out. "What are you doing?!" She yelled to her sister, "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"You already have!" Yuzu yelled out. She had bought into Aizen's tricks perfectly, and Karin was now the bad guy who was trying to kill their peaceful afterlife. "I'm not gonna let it happen Karin… I'm sorry…" Yuzu charged at Karin again. Karin had to time to prepare before Yuzu went for a strike and the blade was coming down right at her head.

"Karin!" A voice said from below. Toshiro was not about to watch one sister murder another one and he decided he needed to intervene. He jumped up and grabbed Yuzu's wrist before kicking her firmly in the chest. She flew backwards and Toshiro readied his own blade, jumping after her. He was going to end this. Or so he thought.

He was stopped in mid-air. His blade was thrown to the ground and he was put in a lock. "I'm getting tired of this speech…" Ukitake said firmly, "This is a battle of honor… you could easily kill Karin's opponent, but that would demoralize her. She would no longer be able to continue her fight." Toshiro stopped struggling.

"But Karin won't fight her sister!" Toshiro said, looking to Yuzu who had recovered from the blow. Yuzu went for an attack against Ukitake, but it was stopped by Shunsui.

"What are you doing?" The straw hatted man asked Yuzu. He had blocked the blow with only one finger, his pinky. The power difference between Yuzu and him became clear. "Ukitake, Me, Toshiro, none of us are who you came here to fight. It would pointless to fight someone so far above you, so don't try. Finish what you started…"

Karin was standing, her sword in her hands. They heard a faint mumble and her blade transformed. Karin took a battle stance that fit her blade and prepared. "Thank you!" Yuzu said, feeling dwarfed by this flamboyant man, she had no other response. She herself prepared herself to do exactly as Kyoraku had told her. To finish what she had started. "Koumyou Uingu: Bring me the glory of the skies, lend me your wings and I will lend you my soul!" A bright flash of light and Yuzu was ready.

The two sisters looked each other over. Karin had the blade behind her back, ready to parry any blow from any side. Yuzu flew up, using her wings rather than the Reiatsu platforms that any other shinigami would have had to. It was only because of her wings that flight was possible. Yuzu got up high enough to catch some rays from the setting sun. It was a much slower charge than in Hueco Mundo, but it was enough for her to get enough power to attack. "Kudakero Awai Keta!" Yuzu said as she held her blade up to the sky. Karin watched as three beams of light, two from her wings and one from the sky reflected off of Yuzu's blade. Karin assumed them to be harmless until she saw the ground become severely singed. She jumped away from the beam of light.

The sun set, Yuzu was able to retain some of her charge before it went down and she decided to reserve it for a more dire situation. Her glowing wings left streaks in the night sky as she gently lowered herself to the ground. Karin had her footing stable once again and she went in to fight her sister. Yuzu found the blows easy to counter and her wings could provide as a shield, using the stored energy as a shield. However, Yuzu was confronted by her worst first, breathlessness. She tried her best to get Karin away from her, but it wasn't working. Yuzu cried out as the air was sucked from the atmosphere and her lungs became empty. Her situation had just become dire. With a grandiose flap of her wings, a large bright flash engulfed Karin's vision. Yuzu jumped back and caught her breath.

"What was that?" Karin asked as she wiped her eyes.

"I'll tell you if you tell me!" Yuzu said, "Why couldn't I breathe?"

"Miyabita Kaze's special ability. It sucks the air out of the atmosphere around it and uses it to boost attack power, as well as help me breathe in combat."

"Cool!" Yuzu said. "Mine is just releasing all the light stored in my wings and sword." She flapped her wings a few times.

"That's cool too!" Karin said. "But now you are weaker…"

"Ya… I can still beat you though!" Yuzu said cockily as she readied her sword. Karin jumped at her again with the staff blade and managed to cut her wing in two. Yuzu pulled away as quickly as she could. "Ouch! That really hurt!"

"That's what you get!" Karin said, pulling her sword into the two halves. Yuzu's wing repaired itself just in time and Yuzu jumped into the air and stayed there, knowing that Karin was probably much stronger with her blade split in half. Yuzu had to think on her toes, her wings had no charge and although the street lights donated, they would take 100 times as long as the sun. Yuzu decided to charge down with her sword drawn and swoop like a bird.

Yuzu dive bombed Karin many times, and the two girls exchanged blows. However, Yuzu knew how to plan her attack to get the most damage from them and found that she could contort her body to make Karin miss. Karin took several blows, and was having no luck damaging Yuzu in the same manner. Karin finally had to do something else, lest she die a slow death at the hands of her twin sister. "Chikarazuyoi Soyokaze!" Karin yelled as her sister closed in on her again. Yuzu went flying backwards, stopping as she hit a building. She fell to the ground below.

Karin went in to finish it and cut off her sister's wings, but Yuzu was far too quick on recovery. She dodged Karin's blows and ran behind her, cutting a hamstring in the process. Karin fell to her knees, but managed to get out of the way before Yuzu could cut her head off. "You're tricky sis!" Yuzu said as she jumped after her sister. Karin managed a shunpo, a trick she had just learned from Urahara the day before, but it left her exhausted. However, it was to somewhere secluded, so she would have some time to recover.

"Where are you?" Yuzu asked as she looked for her sister. She couldn't manage to get a solid fix on her location, but had found her general area. Yuzu however, took the time to recuperate as well. She sat under a street light, hoping to collect some energy from it. She felt pathetic, sitting under that light like a moth, but she had no choice. It was either her or Karin, and she didn't want to be the one on the wrong side of a blade. Besides, getting cut really hurt! All of her cuts were shallow, but they were still making Yuzu cry! Karin was definitely the more stoic of the two.

Karin was now feeling much better, and Yuzu was as well. Yuzu had a slight glow outlining the feathers on her wings and Karin had the suffocating aura around her strong as ever. The two went off to fight each other. Yuzu took the skies and spotted Karin instantly. Karin didn't much trouble finding her sister either, as the glowing wings kind of gave her position away… Both girls prepared themselves for one final attack. They were exhausted and they wanted to end things before the energy for their Zanpakuto ran out and they fell asleep. Yuzu aimed right for her sister shouting, "Souten Awai Keta!" The energy from her wings ran to the blade and focused at its tip. A concentrated beam of energy headed straight towards Karin, but Karin was prepared as well.

The atmosphere around Karin was completely void as Karin shouted, "Fukumi Supaiku!" The massive air spike drove towards Yuzu, both attacks hit at once, leaving both girls completely incapacitated. They hit the ground… hard…

"Karin!" Toshiro yelled out to her. Something became very… very wrong as Toshiro saw another garganta portal open up. Gin Ichimaru stepped out, along with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra.

"Excuse me… I'm looking for a girl, bout yeah high?" He joked as he held up his hand to his stomach, "I was sent to recover her. She's got bright brown hair and wings? Yes? No?"

"Gin…" Toshiro said coldly. He rushed the traitor as fast as he could, but Gin knew what to expect from the young captain. He jumped back and grabbed Karin. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know! I'm improvising!" He said as he held Shinso to Karin's jaw. "Why? What are you doing?"

"You low life piece of…" Toshiro was about to swear but he realized that no one could save Karin now, especially if Gin was at such close range. "Wait! Just leave her here!" Toshiro suggested.

"Someone has a little crush huh?" Gin teased, "It's ok, I thought you might have been gay but I guess this changes it! Little-Shiro is finally becoming a man!"

"Die!" Toshiro yelled as he shot a kido spell without thinking. Grimmjow had no trouble dispelling it.

"I think we found some leverage!" Gin said as he opened up a garganta.

"No!" Toshiro yelled, "Gin! She has no use to you!"

"No but that other one hasn't stopped crying ever since we got her. Maybe having this other one will make her finally shut up!" Gin said, throwing Karin into the portal. Ulquiorra was already carrying Yuzu and had already stepped into the portal. "Well I guess you lose Toshiro… bummer… well whatever… Bye-bye!" He shouted his trademark slogan back as he stepped into the portal. They were all gone.

"Old Man Yama's not gonna be pleased when he hears about this…" Kyoraku said sharply, before letting out a huge yawn. "See you in the morning guys!" He said as she walked away. Ukitake left his friend.

Toshiro sat on the ground; he had lost to Gin again. Sure, Gin had cheated… AGAIN... but Karin was gone. Toshiro mulled this over. He had just lost a friend to an enemy, which was one of the worst feelings you can ever have. For some reason, Karin reminded him a lot of Momo, just by her informal attitude and her mannerisms around her superiors. It was strange.

******************************************************************************

Urahara and Isshin had just finished warming up when a giant screen like portal appeared in front of them. Gin Ichimaru was on the screen. "Hello and welcome to Garganta Broadcast!" Gin said comically. "Today's special is betrayal!" He stepped aside and showed Karin and Yuzu standing side by side in arrancar robes.

Gin put his smiling face back on screen, "We can't actually hear what you're saying so don't even try and reason with it! As far as we are concerned, you don't need to say anything. Your actions have spoken louder than your words, and the fact that you haven't tried to come get either of these girls shows that you clearly don't care about either of them! So I guess we'll be seeing you around!" The screen vanished.

"Well, I honestly didn't expect him to grab both of them…" Isshin said calmly. "Guess we just have to work that much harder once time comes. No point in sulking over it right?"

"Exactly!" Urahara said. "We gotta get ready. There is no time to worry about people when we both know that they are perfectly safe. Aizen may be cruel, be he sure as hell isn't going to kill either of them. Especially not when Gin is having so much fun with it!"

"I'm glad that I finally got my powers back, this would be so much worse if I was just a human!" Isshin said, almost comically. "I know I should probably be more concerned about my daughters' predicament, but I have felt their spiritual pressure recently. Both of them are decent fighters now, able to hold their own against ordinary hollows. I hate to say it, but Aizen will provide them a good home until we can get in there and stir things up!"

"Exactly…" Urahara said he pulled out his Zanpakuto, "You remember how to do this?"

"Let's hope so…"


	6. Rejection!

Yuzu was very quick to forget her quarrels. She was furious at Karin less than 24 hours ago, but upon waking up next to her sister in Hueco Mundo… well…

"It's nice to see you too Yuzu but I have to go to the bathroom…" Karin said, trying to convince her sister to stop hugging her. The task was proving difficult. Ever since Aizen had informed Yuzu that Karin had decided to join forces with them, with the arrancar, Yuzu hadn't found the heart to let go of her sister. She had a death grip, not literally of course, but Karin was in pretty dire need here! "Come on Yuzu! It's urgent!"

"But I missed you!" Yuzu yelled up to her sister, "Didn't you miss me back!?" Yuzu said. Of course, she was crying, but they were tears of joy at seeing her sister again, rather than the sorrowful tears she had been shedding ever since Aizen had taken her. Gin wasn't amused by this as he saw Karin's epic struggle.

"God! This girl can cry over anything!" He yelled out when he saw the two. He went and found Aizen, "Do you just have a thing for crying little girls? What's wrong with you?" There, he took a bad situation and turned it into something positive… for himself at least.

"Yuzu seriously, I'm not gonna go to the bathroom if you're touching me!" Karin started trying to pry Yuzu free from her body. "What's wrong with you? I'll be out in like three seconds and then you can just reattach!"

"You don't like hugs anymore?" Yuzu asked in a panic. Truth was, Karin had never liked hugs that much, and although she was ecstatic to see her sister again, this was a tad much.

Tosen finally decided to pry the brown haired girl away from her unwilling captor. Karin decided that he was probably her favorite person in this entire place at that moment and rushed into the bathroom. Yuzu nibbled on Tosen's hand to try and break free but the man was steadfast, not to mention that Yuzu was extremely weak in comparison. Karin heaved a sigh of relief as she left the bathroom, only to be met by her sister once again. She fell to the ground as her sister tackled her into an embrace. Her eyes shot daggers to Tosen who simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

"I love you Karin! I'm sorry if I hurt you! I didn't know you were a good guy!" Yuzu said, her image of good guy was still blurred by Aizen's illusions.

"Well I was… now I'm not…" Karin muttered as she slugged her way around Los Noches.

"No! Those other guys are bad guys!" Yuzu said, seemingly shocked that Karin could have possibly thought it the other way around. "They wanna kill everyone in this world! All these other people you see walking around, Gin and Tosen, even you and me Karin!" Yuzu said, paraphrasing the speech Aizen had given her. It was actually true, and just on the other side of the Dangai, plans were being made to extract Karin and then do as much damage as possible to Aizen's forces.

"Whatever…" Karin said as she checked out her new uniform. Yuzu had stopped hugging her, much to her own relief, but she couldn't decide how "ok" she actually was. What had motivated Yuzu to strike her? What could Aizen have been planning with her and Yuzu? There were a lot more questions, but she wasn't in pain and she wasn't being interrogated by some really old man, which Karin liked. Maybe this wasn't so bad! At least she didn't have to worry about upsetting the captains by not using honorifics! But she wouldn't get to see Toshiro, or Jushiro, or Rangiku… Her feelings about this situation were so foggy; she couldn't decide exactly what she wanted.

Yuzu was called apart from her sister, but they agreed to meet up later that night. Karin was exploring Los Noches, trying to find something to do. The plain white palace was impressive but on the inside, it was totally dull. She had nothing to do! She felt someone tugging on her robes, and when she turned to see the culprit, she found a strange blonde haired boy with purple eyes. "Ohh hello!" Karin said, faking happiness. "Can I help you?"

The boy just gave her a strange look and went back to pulling on her robes. Karin didn't know what to say, she had never been in such an awkward position in all her life. "Umm… What's your name?" Karin asked.

"Wonderweiss…" The boy told her in a strange dull voice. Karin didn't know what to say next, so she tried to walk away. The boy just followed her, holding onto her robes. Karin ended up falling as he pulled backwards, a little too strong for the girl to manage.

Karin looked into his eyes with fear as he hovered slightly over her. He was strong, she could tell that much, but his intent was foggy. He touched finger to her nose. She looked at it for a second, but didn't dare react to the strange ritual. "It means he likes you." A voice said from just around a corner. Tosen stepped out. Karin had already been properly introduced to the three commanders, as they had been there to greet her when she woke up.

"What?" Karin asked, finally gaining the courage to speak up, despite Wonderweiss's finger still being firmly planted on her nose.

"He only does that because he wants to be closer to you. He knows that the nose is one of the most sensitive parts of the human face, and can be safely touched without causing any harm." Tosen explained the boy's strange customs to her. "By you letting him touch your nose, you're showing him that you are comfortable around him. If you didn't want to be friend with him, you would have snapped at him as he made this innocent intrusion of you personal space."

"So I'm his friend now?" Karin asked as she looked up to the boy who appeared to be smiling. He had a hopeful look in his eyes.

"If you touch his nose with your finger, then yes. If not, then no." Tosen said plainly. Karin knew that a denied friend request can ruin someone's whole week, and she couldn't afford to be making any enemies in this place. She reached up and touched Wonderweiss's nose. "Good." That was the last thing that Karin saw before everything went black.

******************************************************************************

Toshiro woke up that morning covered in dew. He had fallen asleep in the field where Gin had taken Karin away. He sat up, he felt completely filthy. Thankfully, he had blanket over him which had prevented him from getting too wet. He found Rangiku sitting next to him.

"Are you feeling alright Captain?" She asked. She was looking to the rising sun, admiring its beauty.

"I wasn't hurt or anything…" He said as he sat up. His Haori was covered in grass stains, "I'm fine, I don't see why you would think otherwise…"

"You know exactly why I would think otherwise." Rangiku said, turning to him, "There is nothing wrong it Captain. You can a crush if you want."

"I don't have a crush! I just don't like losing!" Toshiro yelled at her, defending his actions. There was no way he was gonna be labeled as some softy just because he didn't like losing to Gin Ichimaru. "Gin is a cheater and Karin is only gone because of unfair circumstances! In a fair fight, I would have had a chance to keep her here, safe!"

"Why do you care so much?" Rangiku asked.

"I… I don't care about her!" Toshiro yelled in retaliation.

"Then I'm gonna tell her you said that when we get her back." Rangiku said, getting to her feet.

"Fine, I don't care!" Toshiro retorted. The two turned away from each other just as they did after most of their arguments. "So… You have a plan to get her back?"

"Not yet… but we will…" Rangiku said as she turned back to him. "You and I will think of something that not even Aizen will be able to see coming!" She said with a wink. Toshiro couldn't help but feel motivated by his lieutenant's chipper and hopeful attitude.

"Alright…" Toshiro said as the two began to plot. They walked back the squad 10 captain's office, getting occasional snickers from nearby, due to Toshiro's grass stained Haori. He was none the wiser. They eventually started to come up with a sound foundation for a plan, thinking it through thoroughly and logically. They had an entry plan, an extraction plan, and an exit plan, but it was all shot down.

A member of the stealth force dropped by and threw a letter into the mail slot in the captain's door. He opened it and found a letter detailing why all entry to Hueco Mundo would be completely forbidden without the Captain-Commander's consent. This was to last until Aizen was defeated and peace was restored to the Soul Society.

"Guess we'll just have to find another way in." Toshiro said darkly as he put the letter on his desk, "Because I'm not just gonna sit here and wait…"

******************************************************************************

"You wanted to see me Lord Aizen?" Yuzu said, complying with title and everything. She had really gotten accustomed to his rank and title over her short stay in Hueco Mundo. His overall aura is what had drawn Yuzu to follow him so easily. She couldn't explain it, but it just commanded everything she did with sort of an invisible hand.

"Yes…" Aizen said calmly. "Look Yuzu… things don't seem to be working out as well as we might have expected from you. You are strong but you lack what I need in a good soldier. The arrancar, the espada in particular, don't have the apprehensive attitude that you seem to posses. You couldn't kill your sister, you cried when you killed that useless arrancar that I sacrificed to train her, and you haven't stopped complaining since you got here."

"I'm sorry…" Yuzu said, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes, "I was just so surprised to hear about Ichigo and daddy, and now Karin is here. I'm just confused!"

"Confusion is something that I can't have in my ranks. You have to know exactly what you desire, or your goals will never come to fruition. I know exactly what I want and I am doing all that I can to make that goal possible. I have planned every move, to the smallest and most trivial detail." Aizen lectured the girl. "You didn't even know how to begin in taking revenge on your family for the deeds they committed."

"I don't even remember them committing those deeds!" Yuzu said, "I wasn't sure if hurting them was right! And besides, I don't like hurting people, no matter who they are or what they have done!"

"Well you aren't as foolish as I thought you were…" Aizen said, much to Yuzu's confusion. "But it looks like you found your resolve. You don't like hurting people, which is a noble gesture, but in the world of the shinigami, that resolution will get you killed."

"But I can get better!" Yuzu said, trying to redeem herself in his eyes. Not really because she liked being in this shallow, terrifying hellhole, but because she was afraid of what might happen if she were to be deemed "useless". "What can I do?!" Yuzu asked through her tears.

"You can leave…" Aizen said darkly. Yuzu found out that her fears were correctly placed as Aizen disappeared and less than a split second later a massive pain appeared her side. Aizen had stabbed her through her right lung and was now picking her up. "Good-bye Yuzu." He said as he threw her out the high window, down to the desert below.

******************************************************************************

The skies of Hueco Mundo were suddenly disturbed as a large tear appeared in the sky. Out stepped three men and a woman. The small group of shinigami fell to the sands below which caused a terrible shock to the quiet landscape, enough to crush the nearby trees and flatten the dunes. All three were dressed for the occasion… combat. Well… except for maybe one…

"I can't believe you kept that ridiculous outfit…" A strong female voice said plainly to one man. He was wearing his old uniform: Bright purple, gold lace, huge hood. The other two in the company simply laughed at the man's misfortune at possessing such a terrible uniform.

"Alright Yoruichi…" A man wearing a strange hat and green uniform combo said. "We have to remember, we are here for a reason."

"I know Urahara…" Yoruichi said, fixing her stance. "But it's hard when one of your companions looks like a clown…"

Urahara started laughing again. "Maybe you should have worn your work clothes huh Tessai?" He teased. The large man put on his biggest frown and fake tears as his friends chided him for his "fashion statement."

"You look stupider than me when I'm playing the goofy dad role…" The other shinigami added. He wore the standard uniform of the shinigami, but had a tattered white Haori pinned to his left shoulder. Everyone in the group agreed that he looked like the biggest badass out of any of the parties present.

The three poked fun at Tessai for a short while before they finally had to get on their way.

"Remember our job is to get Karin and Yuzu back; nothing more or less." Urahara said as they started towards their goal. The four ran through the desert, completely undetectable to any outside source. This was hopefully a peaceful extraction, but all parties were armed for combat if need be. They pressed on through, running towards the giant castle that was Los Noches.


	7. Schism: Three Front Split

Yuzu woke up cold and alone in the sands of the desert. Her entire body ached and her breathing was extremely labored. She couldn't manage to take one solid breath without a whole bunch of blood flooding into her mouth. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even herself, but she knew that she was wrong to have trusted Aizen in the first place. It hurt to even move, and she knew that she had absolutely no room for crying; even though that's the only thing she wanted to do at that point in time.

"Are you ok?" A small feminine voice asked from just behind a sand dune. Yuzu weakly turned her head to see a small little girl with green hair. The girl looked a lot like the other people Yuzu had seen around the castle of Hueco Mundo, and the strange white mask on her head made Yuzu even more frightened. However, it was extremely small, and its rounded edges made the small mask look almost comical. Yuzu wanted to run away from this creature, but her right side of her body wouldn't cooperate with her demands, and the left side was far too weak. "I asked you a question! Are you ok little girl?"

Yuzu tried to speak but ended up choking on some of the blood that was draining from her body. She did however manage a very weak shaking of her head, which surprising, the small girl took note of. "Don't worry then ok! We're gonna get you out of here!" The girl said with a determined look. Yuzu didn't know who "we" was, that was until a gigantic yellow man-beast came out of from behind the dune. Yuzu couldn't exactly cry out, but the tears ran down her face. She had never been so scared in all her life! Well ok she had, but crying was so natural that in the face of agonizing, she could still let out a few tears.

"Don't worry! Dondochakka knows lot's about doctoring stuff!" The creature said. It pulled out a small black briefcase and popped it open. Yuzu prepared herself for the worst as he took out several items, most of which she identified. Gauss, anti-septic, bone saws, hedge cutters. Another strange looking creature came over and held down her legs. "Now be quiet now. This is gonna help you get all better!" Dondochakka pulled out a syringe and plunged it into Yuzu. She couldn't stay awake to see the rest, but she wasn't sure she wanted too.

******************************************************************************

"Captain! Captain wait up!" Rangiku yelled. Toshiro Hitsugaya had been acting extremely shady the last few days, and now she knew exactly why. Here was, with a Senkaimon open, his Bankai activated, and was wearing Urahara's old cloak. Rangiku didn't want to admit it, but Urahara had done an amazing job with the design on that thing. Even though her captain was already in Bankai, she couldn't pick up a trace of his spiritual pressure. Had she not known him so extremely well, she wouldn't have had any way to find him. Instinct was the only thing that she had followed to get here, and it had served her well.

"Rangiku…" Toshiro said quietly, sounding a tad disappointed at the arrival of his lieutenant. "Why are you here?" He commanded. He didn't want her to interfere. This plan of his was supposed to be completely secret, even from his closest family and friends.

"I'm here to stop you! You are ruining everything for yourself!" Rangiku yelled after him. He had already taken the first few steps into the Senkaimon, "Captain! You will be stripped of everything, rank, title, everything! Do you want to be exiled just like Isshin? Labeled a traitor just like Gin or Aizen?"

The Senkaimon was closing and Toshiro showed no signs of determent. "Are you in or out Rangiku?" He asked plainly as the gate shut. Rangiku hesitated.

"You know that she may already be dead right captain?" She asked, referring to Karin.

"I know…" Hitsugaya said plainly, his tone was almost cold and his tone was jaded, "But it's the principle of the thing. I can't stop Aizen all by myself, but if I do some damage, that'll teach bastards like Gin that you can't get away with killing innocent people. At least… not on my watch."

"But aren't you afraid that the captain commander will find out?!" Rangiku yelled after him, she hated seeing him like this. He was completely determined, even though it was a stupid and pointless idea. Aizen had nearly killed Toshiro the last time they met, and Toshiro was going to head into the fray all by himself. Rangiku made up her mind; he wasn't going to do this… not by himself at least. "Whatever… just make some room."

The gates started to close even further as Rangiku slipped her way into the Senkaimon. The two started walking through the desolate Dangai precipice world, not looking back to the world that they had just left behind. They probably should have though, as they would have noticed the two unexpected followers.

******************************************************************************

Karin woke up in her room, but it honestly didn't feel like it. Yuzu wasn't lying along her side, and it felt strange not having her sister there next to her. Tosen was standing over her with Wonderweiss by his side. "Sorry about that." He said, "I forgot that you still have a very weak spiritual pressure and forming a bond between you and him probably shocked your system a little bit. We brought you to your room."

"Thanks…" Karin said. She was honestly surprised to be alive. When she touched her finger to the boy's nose, her head felt like it had been split in two. When she blacked out, she was in more pain than she had ever been in her life! The "shock" to her system was more potent than any attack Yuzu had thrown at her while they were fighting. "Where's my sister?" Karin asked as she sat up in her bed.

"She… left…" Tosen admitted. "She was attempting to betray us, so we took care of her. You don't have to worry though; her death was swift and glorious. She died the way many warriors would like to. She is dead now though." Karin turned red as he said these words. She wanted to punch him in his ugly face, break that stupid visor in half. However, she knew that she would have no chance in doing so, so instead she ran. She ran through the halls of Los Noches, trying to get rid of this feeling of demise. It was pointless, no matter how hard she ran the feeling would not go away. Yuzu was dead, and she knew that Aizen and his lackeys didn't lie. Karin came to halt and fell to her knees. Karin began to cry for the first time in many years. This was a real cry, not just a few tears shed for someone, but rather an absolute release of emotion. Her twin sister was dead.

Karin was not happy as someone started rubbing her hair. She looked up to see Wonderweiss standing above her rubbing his hands through her hair. "What are you doing!? Can't you see what I'm doing?!" He continued to rub and Karin knew it was pointless. She was so frustrated. Back at home, she at least had some pull over her family's and her friend's decisions but here… here she didn't have any word on anything. She was completely powerless, no matter what she did she couldn't gain any more respect than she already had. She wanted to brush the kids hand off and run away from him, but he was much quicker than her and she came to the resolution that if wanted to pet her, she would have to let that happen.

"Pretty…" The boy said as he stroked. Karin felt kind of weird, but her crying wouldn't just stop. She would have been so much more ok with this if Yuzu had been in her place right now and she was the one who was dead, but that couldn't happen. Karin however felt something very strange. Everything went black, except for one speck on the horizon. A small flame burned out in the desert somewhere, and its presence was extremely faint. Karin knew something then and there and she had to follow that flame. Everything about it reminded her of her twin sister. She made a resolution to find that flame later, take it away, and never come to this place ever again.

******************************************************************************

"She's waking up!" Yuzu heard. She was glad that she heard this, because she wasn't even sure what was happened as she sat up. Her body was extremely weak, her mouth was dry and her clothes felt wet. "Are you feelin' better?" A deep voice asked her. She looked up to see the same giant monster man from before but there was a small on his face now.

"I think so…" Yuzu said as she tried to get her balance. She looked down to inspect the damage to her body. Her clothes were so damp that she thought she may have wet the bed, but she was surprised to find the white robes stained a dark red. 'That's… better?' Yuzu asked herself in her mind. A hand pushed her back into a laying position.

Yuzu struggled lightly as her robes were torn open. The giant yellow monster had taken them off her body leaving her in just some tight pants and bandages. "We need to change your bandages! You got blood all over Bawabawa!" Yuzu winced as her body was exposed to the elements but just as quickly had it come into view was in covered by more bandages. Yuzu couldn't decide of this monster was a good of a bad guy, and what did he mean by "Bawabawa?" She tried to sit up once again and was assisted by another strange looking creature. This one was purple, and much thinner than the last one.

"You need to take it easy!" The other one said, "We are taking you somewhere safe, until you get stronger."

"Who are you guys?" Yuzu's tone was extremely shaky as she reached the verge of tears. They may have meant well, but they some scary looking guys. The little girl was probably the most comforting sight out of the pack, and the mask on her head, albeit goofy, gave her an almost barbaric look.

Yuzu was surprised as she jolted forward, the ground had been moving and she hadn't even recognized it. She was picked up gingerly and placed on the ground. The ritual had begun. The green haired girl shot from the sky, shouting "Nel!" as she hit the ground. One of the monsters came out from behind her, it was the thin one and its raspy voice exclaimed, "Pesche!" The other monster came out moments later shouting "Dondochakka!"

The most alarming thing was when a gigantic worm slithered up from behind them all and let out a roar. Yuzu yelled out in fear as the super sentei introduction was completed. Their fun was ruined as they realized Yuzu was crying. Dondochakka ran over to her side, "Are you ok?" Yuzu pointed in hysterics at the giant worm hollow. "Ohh that's just Bawabawa! He's friendly!" The monster said, trying to comfort Yuzu. The worm slithered over and gently pushed on Yuzu, purring as it did so.

"Alright…" Yuzu didn't really know what to think but what was she going to do? She could barely even sit up by herself and if these guys wanted to cause her any harm, they would have no problem doing so. Before Yuzu knew it, she was being hoisted on the beasts back. She was laid back down and before long the small group was on its way through the desert once again. Yuzu was surprised to be alive, and even more surprised to be in the company of such strange monsters! She couldn't do anything about it though, so she just laid back and relaxed. She had no idea where this group was taking her but what the hell... Onward and upward right?

******************************************************************************

The sun set and the halls of Los Noches became dark. There was a brief period where you could barely even see the hand in front of your face. That was just after the sun had set and the internal lighting system was still inactive. Karin decided that this would be the best time to make her move to find her sister. She repressed her Reiatsu to the best of her ability and head to her room. She leapt out the window, creating small platforms every 20 or so feet, to lessen her blow. The drop to the desert surface was really extreme, and it took Karin over an hour to get to the bottom of the castle's tower.

Karin landed quietly; she didn't want to alert anyone to her presence. Thankfully, the guards were distracted by trying to prove who had the best release. Karin was able to slip by in a fairly overt manner thanks to the arrancar's steadfast egotistic nature. Within no time, Karin was in the desert.

Karin walked and walked. Miyabita Kaze was already set and ready to go, and the extended breath that Karin was constantly receiving from the sword. Karin had made it a decent way out before she found herself completely lost. The trees were growing longer and the sky grew even darker as the moon was blotted out. Karin grew more and more frightened as she started hearing sounds. They weren't small, timid sounds either.

Karin continued to walk, hoping that maybe they sounds were being made by Yuzu... no such luck. Karin was literally knocked backwards as the ground tore open beneath her revealing a grotesque, almost baroque style mask. Two hands popped out and pulled out a giant black body. This new creature towered over Karin who looked upon it in horror. The creature was followed by several of its companions, the ground nearly caved in under the combined weight of the three hollows. Karin prepared her blade but that had no effect on the demeanor of the three giant hollows. All three combined their energy into some red orb in front of them.

Karin flinched as the red orb produced a massive beam which was flying right at her. Suddenly, a terrible spiritual pressure overwhelmed her and found herself unable to dodged or even move away from the Cero. She averted her eyes as the beam approached her, missing the best part!


	8. A Knot of Complications

Yuzu drifted in and out of consciousness as she was taken through the sand of Heuco Mundo. She wanted to say she had a lot of thoughts in her head about everything, but really, it was pretty vacant up there. When she woke, she simply looked at the sky and stared vacantly into the vast and endless creation. When she slept, she didn't dream. Occasionally she would think things like, 'What might become of me?' and 'I wonder what dieing is really like...' but those thoughts were infrequent. 90% of the time, she simply laid there, completely oblivious to anything going on around her.

"Are you doing ok back there?" Dondochakka asked as he watched the girl slip in and out of awareness. "You think you are gonna be ok?"

There was no answer. In Yuzu's defense, she couldn't hear anything anymore except the wind gliding peacefully along her body.

"Wake up!" Nel said, jumping on Yuzu's chest rapidly, trying to get the girl back to consciousness. Yuzu simply wouldn't budge. She just stared into the sky, her brain blocking out everything else that was going on around her. She couldn't feel Nel get off her and have Bawabawa dump her on the desert sands. She couldn't feel Bawabawa licking her in an attempt to bring her back to consciousness. She couldn't feel Nel spitting on her wounds, nor could she feel them start to close. She was lost in her own world, one filled with nothingness.

Her resolve had been demolished by both Aizen's lies and betrayal. She felt that she had no where to go in life any more, Ichigo and her Father didn't love her, she had attacked her sister and her sister hadn't come to save her, and now she was being taken away by a strange group of monsters. She fell asleep this time, much more tired and weak than she had been in a very long time. She knew that she was probably going to die right there, and with all the events that had taken place in the past few days, she was fine with that. She needed a nice relaxing break from the hell that her life had become, and death would give her a permanent vacation.

Yuzu felt her eyes close, knowing that she would never be quite the same ever again.

************************************************************************

Karin managed to bring her hands up from her eyes to see a small silhouette blocking the gigantic red beams of light. She couldn't exactly make out what it was, but it was holding a sword in its right hand and a white shield in its left. As the red lights began to fade, Karin began to further make out the figure, but as soon as it had come, it was gone. She saw the three towering creatures fall to the ground, all cut completely in half.

"Well that was cool!" Karin heard her sword say.

"Shut up!" Karin whispered to the sealed Bamboo Katana. "Do you wanna let them know we are here?"

"I'm just saying!" Miyabita said again, "Besides, you're the only one who can hear me, so don't get you Shihakusho panties in a bunch..."

"Shut up!" Karin said aggressively.

"You can speak with your sword?" A deep voice asked her from behind. Karin struggled to lift her head up and meet whatever had asked her. "So far, I haven't even been able to do that. How old are you little one?"

"11..." Karin said sheepishly. She hadn't turned around yet; she was still getting up the courage to take that step. Time went by without a response and eventually, she had to crank her head around to see who exactly she was talking to. She stumbled backwards as the creatures face came into light. "Arrancar!" She screamed at him.

"Don't be ridiculous child." It told her, "I'm no arrancar; I'm a shinigami, just like you."

"Then why are you a deer?!" Karin yelled back in response. Fear engulfed her emotions, which usually was followed by anger.

"It's just a mask. See?" He quickly removed the deer like mask and his face emerge as an attractive, ohh say, 20 year old looking male. "No need to be scared little girl."

"I'm not a little girl!" Karin retorted.

"Yes she is!" Her sword shouted at, even though Karin was the only one who could hear him. He just enjoyed giving her crap about being such a young shinigami, and such a small child at that.

"Shut up!" Karin said, punching the blade.

The strange shinigami simply watched as Karin cut her hand in an attempt to retaliate against her Zanpakuto. She grasped her hand as she fell to her knees, dripping blood from the shallow wound. "Are you finished?" He asked her.

"Sh... shut up..." Karin said as she gripped the small cut in her hands. "You wouldn't understand... Miyabita is... a jerk..."

"Fine... guess you don't want my help then..." Miyabita said to Karin, faking discouragement. Karin whimpered an apology which he readily accepted. "I love Karin." He told her.

"I love you too..." Karin said as she gritted her teeth.

"Ok then..." The other shinigami present said. Even when his friends had talked with their swords, it had never been such a strange relationship. "When you're ready..."

"No it's ok!" Karin interrupted, hoping to keep her saviors interest. "I'm Karin Kurosaki; I am trying to find my twin sister. Have you seen her?"

"I haven't seen anyone else like you or I in a long time... sorry..." He told her, "Is she also a shinigami?"

"Yes, but in arrancar robes. She has light brown hair and brown eyes too."

"You said she was your twin..."

"We are, but she's my fraternal twin, so we don't look exactly the same... actually... were quite different." Karin said, thinking about her possibly deceased sister. "Aizen stabbed her... she might be dead..."

"Do you know where she might be?" The shinigami asked her, "The Forest of Menos is probably not the place Aizen would choose to dump a body. She is probably still on the surface."

"How do I get up there?"

"I can help you... but you must first do a favor for me." He told her.

"What do you need? I'm not very strong..."

"I have been alone down here for longer than twenty of your life times, and so have my friend's graves. I would like them to meet you, if you don't mind."

"Umm... sure... I guess I could do that..." Karin said, slightly taken back by the request. "Where are they?"

"Can you use Shunpo?" He asked her.

"What the hell?"

"Alright then..." He said plainly. "I can take you there. Just grab me hand." He offered a rugged, calloused to her. She reached out and grabbed it. She didn't really trust him, but it was better than being attacked by those stupid towering creatures again right?

Karin felt her feet being lifted from the ground and half a second later, she was against a tree, and then again she felt herself being jostled around. The masked shinigami finally came to a stop after... ohh... around 20 of these. He set Karin against a tree.

"Give me some..." Was all Karin got out before a visceral reaction occurred and she was throwing up behind a nearby tree. The masked shinigami simply looked away as she completed this purge of her body. Karin fell to her knees as she came out from behind the tree. "Sorry... I don't get motion sickness to... often..."

"It's my fault, I'm sorry." He said, offering to help her up. She grabbed onto the man's arm and finally got to her feet, albeit weakly. As she got up, she looked around to see a large patch in the middle of large plain that was dug up and rough looking.

"So this is where your friends are buried Mr... uh..."

"Ashido. Ashido Kano is my name, and yes. Thank you for coming here, I like to think that they all like having visitors."

"Ohh... ya no problem." Karin said as Ashido walked along the rough patch of earth. She followed behind him closely as he strode through the grave yard.

"Your sister is close to us..." Ashido said calmly. "She is on the surface, but there are three arrancar's surrounding her, as well as one hollow."

"How do you know that?!"

"My friends might be dead, but that just means they are part of the land. They tell me these things, just by me sitting and listening to them. Much like you and your Zanpakuto." Ashido said calmly, "Now we should hurry before..."

"Pwetty..." A boy's voice said from behind Ashido as the small blonde haired boy from before appeared behind him with a ball of energy in his hand. He shot at Ashido, who managed to deflect the bala with one of masks, leading to the mask shattering. Wonderweiss drew his sword and charged at Ashido, who engaged the arrancar.

"Go Karin!" Ashido told her as he struggled against the boy arrancar's strength. "Just through that door!"

"What about you?!" Karin asked, readying her own blade.

"Forget it! He's only here for you, now go!" Ashido shouted at her as another bala shattered one of his various masks. Karin almost went to engage her new "buddy" but decided against it as she saw the boy fire a massive beam from his right hand. Karin ran out, back to the surface.

************************************************************************

"Hurry up would you?!" Toshiro yelled backwards at Rangiku who, albeit trying her hardest, was unable to keep up with the over eager Captain. "We have to get away from it!"

"Captain, I don't know how much longer I can go!" Rangiku yelled. Both Captain and Lieutenant were expending huge amounts of energy as they dashed along the walls of the Dangai, trying their best to get away from the Janitor. Both of them knew that if they used their Zanpakuto, it would be permanently destroyed, and kido had also proven useless, so they had no choice but to run.

"I don't know what I can do though!" Toshiro yelled back. He was also tiring, but neither had any method of getting anywhere. The two continued to run but after a good three hours of Shunpo, Rangiku tripped and skidded along the floor. She watched in horror as the Janitor approached her at unwavering speed.

Toshiro watched as his lieutenant tried helplessly to crawl away, and just as all seemed hopeless, the Janitor flashed in a brilliant white light. The creature skidded to a stop and vanished.

"What the hell?" Rangiku asked as she looked onto where the creature had been. A large cloud of smoke appeared in the now unoccupied space and two figures started to materialize.

"Such a shame, it was just doing its job."

"Ya and I ended up having to kill it because two of our most valuable officers WEREN'T doing theirs..."

The smoke cleared and the figures came into full view. "Ohh what the hell...?" Toshiro asked as the two figures stepped forward. One had long white hair, the other a strange pink coat.

"You know we have to bring you two back... Old man Yama says so..."

"But we have to save..." Toshiro fell to his knees. Shunsui picked up his incapacitated body, having dealt only a swift kick to the back of his head.

"Can you walk Lieutenant Matsumoto?" Jushiro asked politely as he offered her a hand. Rangiku got to her feet and started walking back with him. Shunsui and Ukitake had effortlessly dispelled the two's vigor in saving Karin, probably for the best, since Aizen and the Espada would have murdered the two with ease. However, Shunsui and Ukitake didn't bring Toshiro and Rangiku back to the Soul Society. No no, Yamamoto had decided against it, he wanted them somewhere where they would be put to good use.

******************************************************************

Yuzu didn't expect to wake up in a grassy meadow, surrounded by all sorts of exotic flowers. No, she had expected to be dead, but here she was, living and breathing just as much as she had been before hand. She felt stronger now, and she got to her feet. "So you are ok!" A petite voice told from behind. Yuzu felt two arms wrap her person as her Zanpakuto spirit pulled her into a tight surprise hug.

"What happened?" Yuzu asked as she looked around, "Is this the same place we met the first time?"

"Yup, but this is the ground. Pretty isn't it?" Koumyou asked as she picked up and smelled a flower.

"I thought I was going to die..." Yuzu said solemnly as her eyes got teary. Her Zanpakuto hugged her again.

"I thought so too, but really, it was just your body trying to get rid of all the yucky stuff."

"What kind of yucky stuff?" Yuzu asked curiously, shaking off the tears.

"I'll show you!" Koumyou said giddily. She took her shinigami's hand and led her through the field. Yuzu followed and they eventually came to a dieing field. "This is where that yucky guy, Aizen I think, this is where he came when you first met me. But look!"

Yuzu watched in wonder as the dank, dying field began to recede, replaced by more brilliant flowers and trees. The sky above the field went from a dark, putrid yellow color to a brilliant blue and the smell turned from sulfuric to floral. Yuzu looked down and saw something else extraordinary. Her arrancar robes were changing, back into her usual green dress. Most alarming however, that dreaded chain that had plagued her when she first died had reappeared in its place. She looked to Koumyou in a panic.

"It's ok, it just means that you are gonna be normal again soon!" Koumyou said happily. "I probably won't see you for a while... but I will see you again! I promise!" The small winged girl gave Yuzu a hug and wrapped her wings around her shinigami.

"What are you talking... about... t..." Yuzu grew tired, and was out like a light, unable to finish up her sentence. Koumyou cried as she delivered Yuzu back to the real world, into her now "plus" body.

Nel and her brothers watched as two shinigami, all well past armed came and picked up the girls body. Nel had no idea what had gone on, all she knew was that her new friend had changed clothes and was still sleeping like a baby. One shinigami with the green hat brought picked her up. "Looks like she's already gone through reverse shinigamification." He said plainly as he played the dangling chain.

"Do you remember how to reverse it? You know, reattach the chain with the body?" A shinigami with orange clothes on asked him.

"Well, I've already made her a new, working, human body. It's not easy making a real human body you know Yoruichi, in fact, it's next to impossible! If I can do that, I can do anything!" He said calmly. The orange clothed shinigami simply shrugged and they walked off, not saying a word to Nel or friends.

******************************************************************

Karin stepped exhaustedly through the deserts. She couldn't even see straight anymore she was so extremely exhausted. She fell to her knees, the dreadfully quiet moon taunting her as she looked forth. She couldn't even sense Yuzu's spiritual pressure any more, it was if she had just dropped off the face of the earth. Karin did however; sense a very strange pressure approaching her from behind.

"Well I'll be damned, you found her!"

"I know what my daughter's spiritual pressure feels like Tessai; I was a captain level shinigami at one point."

Karin was in a state of utter confusion as her father and Tessai, who was sporting a brilliant outfit, approached her. Karin held her arms up, expecting to be helped up, but something else happened entirely.

"Way of binding Number 99: Part 1; Kin!" Tessai shouted just before Karin found herself pinned to the ground. "Part 2: Bankin, First song; Halting Fabric!" Tessai shouted again and Karin found her vision completely blocked.

She let out various grunts, but she couldn't even hope to move. She heard her father whisper gently to her, "I hope you've had fun, but this isn't your place just yet. We're gonna get you home."

Karin felt two things enter her body, both in the chest, one from front and one from back. She lost conscious immediately. "Alright, now we just have Urahara help to get her back in her body."

"Yup..."

******************************************************************

Toshiro woke up in a familiar place, his neck aching. He saw Rangiku sitting in the corner of the apartment. "What happened?"

"Nothing... Captain Ukitake and Kyoraku brought us here, saying that Captain Commander had ordered it." She said plainly. "Don't know why..."

"How anti-climactic..." Toshiro said, "Where are they now?"

"They headed back to the Seireitei." Rangiku said plainly. "They didn't say anything else after they left, but they did say not to worry about Karin and Yuzu."

"Huh... Whatever..."

******************************************************************

Yuzu woke up slowly, in a very familiar place. Here she was once again, sitting in her own bed, looking at her own ceiling, and dressed in her own jammies. She cried out of joy, thank god that terrible dream was over. She could only remember snippets of it, but that was more than enough to make her glad to be home. She saw Karin sleeping peacefully in her own bed just across the room.

Karin woke up to her twin sister prodding at her side, probably checking to make sure she was real. Karin barely remembered a thing, but she knew that every bit of it was completely real. She was a little wiser than her sister in that aspect, but it was all over. Her goofy dad came in to check on the two. "Hey girls! How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright..." Yuzu said, "Happy to see you guys after that dream."

"Same I guess..." Karin added.

"Awesome! Well I'm gonna go visit my old friend tonight. Ryuken and I haven't had a chat in ages and I think it's about time." Isshin said in his old fashioned goofy dad tone. Karin remembered something about that "dream" that made her want to punch him in the face... so she did, before crawling back into bed.

******************************************************************

"So you managed to get Yuzu a completely new, human body?" Tessai asked Urahara, who had calmly sat down to tea with Yoruichi.

"It wasn't easy either. Reattaching her soul chain was the EASY part." He said dramatically. Yoruichi chuckled.

"Well, it was awfully strange. I didn't expect to get out of that without having to actually fight someone. It was awfully nice of Aizen to leave that neat trial of blood in the sands where Yuzu had been."

"Yup, and Karin never learned to control her spiritual pressure, so tracing her was super quick and easy!" Tessai added.

The three sat and enjoyed their small tea party for a while before Urahara's ears perked up. "Well, looks I get to fight an Espada today anyways!" He said as he saw four arrancar steps out of a Garganta. "Isn't that ironic?"

******************************************************************

Well the rest is history. Ukitake went back to the Seireitei just in time to help Orihime into the Senkaimon, Toshiro and Rangiku got stuck engaging Luppi in combat, but at least they weren't punished for deserting the Soul Society. Karin was left with a strange feeling inside of her every time the wind flowed around her. It didn't really seem to do that anymore, it just kind of flew right into her mouth when ever she was around, but she had no explanation for why that happened.

Yuzu often had strange dreams, where she would play with a small girl, but both of them had wings. Yuzu really enjoyed these dreams; they were like memories from a really long time ago.

Ichigo ended up getting out of his Vizard training just in time to engage the four Espada class arrancar. He completely missed seeing Yuzu and Karin as shinigami, or seeing Gin Ichimaru kid nap his sister in the first place. It was amazing, lots of stuff can happen in a few weeks!

So that's the chronicling of Yuzu and Karin's time as shinigami. It was short lived, but both girls had plenty of excitement in that short time, and who knows, maybe it could happen again, as long as the circumstances are right! Until then, we say our farewells to the Kurosaki sisters and turn our attention back to the main stream characters.

**FINE!**

Disclaimer: I don't know why people have to put this but I will. "I do not own BLEACH, but I do own Koumyou Uingu and Miyabita Kaze." However, if you wanna use one of these concepts in a story of your own, don't even ask permission. Just use it. You could tell you did though, because it would be flattering! If you enjoyed this story, I readily accept requests for anything you would to see in the future. Just drop a PM on my profile!


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